E  NEGRO'S 


PROGRESS  N  F  F  'Y 


YEARS 


AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE 

36TH  AND  WOODLAND  AVENUE 

PHILADELPHIA 

1913 


Copyright,  1913,  by 

AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE 
All  rights  reserved 


CONTENTS 

PART  I— STATISTICAL 

NEGRO  POPULATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 1 

Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  Ph.D.,  Specialist  Bureau  of  Education,  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior,  Washington,  D.  C. 


PART  II— BUSINESS  ACTIVITIES  AND  LABOR  CONDITIONS 

PROFESSIONAL  AND  SKILLED  OCCUPATIONS 10 

Kelly  Miller,  LL.D.,  Dean,  Howard  University,  Washington,  D.  C. 

THE  NEGRO  IN  UNSKILLED  LABOR 19 

R.  R.  Wright,  Jr.,  Ph.D.,  Editor,  The  Christian  Recorder,  Philadel- 
phia 

DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  TIDEWATER  COUNTIES  OF  VIRGINIA    28 
T.  C.  Walker,  Gloucester  Courthouse,  Va. 

THE  NEGRO  AND  THE  IMMIGRANT  IN  THE  TWO  AMERICAS. .     32 
James  B.  Clarke,  New  York 

THE  TENANT  SYSTEM  AND  SOME  CHANGES  SINCE  EMANCIPA- 
TION      3X 

Thomas  J.  Edwards,  Supervisor  of  Colored  Public  Schools  of  Talla- 
poosa  County,  Dadeville,  Ala. 


PART  III— SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  AND  PROBLEMS 

WORK  OF  THE  COMMISSION  OF  SOUTHERN  UNIVERSITIES  ON 

THE  RACE  QUESTION 47 

Charles  Hillman  Brough,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Economics  and  Soci- 
ology, University  of  Arkansas ;  Chairman,  Commission  of  Southern 
Universities  on  the  Race  Question 

FIFTY  YEARS  OF  FREEDOM:  CONDITIONS  IN  THE  SEACOAST 

REGIONS 58 

Niels  Christensen,  Editor  and  Proprietor,  The  Beaufort  Gazette, 
Beaufort,  S.  C. 


iv  CONTENTS 

THE  WHITE  MAN'S  DEBT  TO  THE  NEGRO 67 

L.  H.  Hammond,  Paine  College,  Augusta,  Ga. 

NEGRO  CRIMINALITY  IN  THE  SOUTH 74 

Monroe  N.  Work,  Tuskegee  Institute,  Alabama 

THE  MOVEMENT  FOR  THE  BETTERMENT  OF  THE  NEGRO  IN 

PHILADELPHIA 81 

John  T.  Emlen,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Armstrong  Associa- 
tion of  Philadelphia 

PROBLEMS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 93 

Ray  Stannard  Baker,  Amherst,  Mass. 

CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  THE  CITIES 105 

George  Edmund  Haynes,  Ph.D.,  Director,  National  League  on 
Urban  Conditions  Among  Negroes;  Professor  of  Social  Science. 
Fisk  University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

CHURCHES  AND  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS 120 

J.  J.  Watson,  Ph.D.,  Macon,  Ga. 

NEGRO  ORGANIZATIONS 129 

B.  F.  Lee,  Jr.,  Field  Secretary,  Armstrong  Association  of  Philadel- 
phia 

FIFTY  YEARS  OF  NEGRO  PUBLIC  HEALTH 138 

S.  B.  Jones,  M.D.,  Resident  Physician,  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College,  Greensboro,  N.  C. 

NEGRO  HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIVING 147 

Robert  E.  Park,  Wollaston,  Mass. 

RACE  RELATIONSHIP  IN  THE  SOUTH 164 

W.  D.  Weatherford,  Ph.D.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  JEANES  AND  SLATER  FUNDS 173 

B.  C.  Caldwell,  The  John  F.  Slater  Fund,  New  York 

PART  IV— EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS  AND  NEED 

NEGRO  ILLITERACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 177 

J.  P.  Lichtenberger,  Ph.D.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Sociology,  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania 

NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  OF  PHILADELPHIA  186 
Howard  W.  Odum,  University  of  Georgia,  Athens,  Ga. 


CONTENTS  v 

HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  NEGROES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. .  209 
Edward  T.  Ware,  A.B.,  President,  Atlanta  University,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 219 

Booker  T.  Washington,  LL.D.,  Principal,  Tuskegee  Institute,  Ala. 

THE  NEGRO  IN  LITERATURE  AND  ART 233 

W.  E.  Burghardt  Du  Bois,  Ph.D.,  Editor,  The  Crisis,  New  York 


INDEX..  239 


THE  PAPERS  IN  THIS  PUBLICATION  WERE 

COLLECTED  AND  EDITED  BY 

J.  P.  LlCHTENBERGER,  PH.D. 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR 


NEGRO  POPULATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

BY  THOMAS  JESSE  JONES,  PH.D., 
Specialist,  Bureau  of  Education,  Department  of  the  Interior,  Washington. 

Will  the  ten  million  Negroes  now  in  the  United  States  continue 
to  increase  at  the  100  per  cent  rate  of  the  last  50  years?  How  long 
will  they  remain  75  per  cent  rural?  Is  the  cityward  tide  affecting 
them  equally  with  the  white  population?  To  what  extent  are  they 
leaving  the  South  and  moving  into  the  North?  A  moment's  reflection 
will  show  that  these  are  among  the  most  vital  questions  confronting 
the  serious  minded  people  of  our  land. 

Increase  of  Negro  Population 

According  to  the  United  States  Census  Bureau  the  increase  of 
the  Negro  population  was  120  per  cent  in  the  50  years  between  1860 
and  1910.  This  population  in  1860  was  four  and  a  half  million 
(4,441,830).  In  1910  the  number  had  increased  to  practically  ten 
million  (9,827,763).  It  is  interesting  to  note  by  way  of  comparison 
that  the  foreign-born  population  of  the  country  was  about  two  million 
in  1860  and  thirteen  and  a  third  million  hi  1910.  These  two  groups 
form  a  total  of  about  23  million  people,  or  a  fourth  of  our  total  popu- 
lation. In  view  of  the  many  serious  problems  of  social  adjustment 
presented  by  each  of  these  groups,  it  is  quite  significant  that  they 
should  form  sush  a  large  proportion  of  our  population. 

Much  interest  has  been  aroused  by  the  fact  that  the  1910  census 
showed  an  increase  for  the  Negro  population  of  only  11.2  per  cent 
as  against  18  per  cent  for  1900.  This  fact  has  strengthened  the 
belief  of  those  who  have  been  giving  periodic  expression  to  their  claim 
that  the  Negro  is  "dying  out."  Even  a  casual  study  of  the  question, 
however,  shows  that  such  a  conclusion  is  not  well  founded.  In  the 
first  place,  an  increase  of  11.2  per  cent  is  about  equal  to  the  natural 
increase  of  any  of  the  European  people.  The  1911  census  of  the 
English  people,  for  example,  reported  an  increase  by  excess  of  births 
over  deaths  of  12.4  per  cent.  This  rate  for  1910  was  only  11.6  per 
cent.  In  the  second  place,  the  abrupt  drop  from  18  per  cent  of  the 

1 


THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 


Negro  population  in  1900  to  11.2  per  cent  in  1910  is  explained  by 
errors  in  the  censuses  prior  to  1900  and  not  by  any  abnormal  changes 
in  the  Negro  people.  An  examination  of  the  following  rates  of  in- 
crease since  1860  throws  much  light  on  this  subject: 


Decade 

Increase 

Per  cent  of  increase 

1900-1910  

993,769 
1,345,318 
907,883 
1,700,784 
438,179 

11.2 
18.0 
13.8 
34.9 
9.9 

1890-1900  

1880-1890                 

1870-1880  

1860-1870  

The  well  known  errors  of  the  1870  enumeration  of  the  South 
explain  the  abnormal  increase  reported  for  that  decade.  The  sudden 
increase  from  13.8  per  cent  in  1890  to  18  per  cent  in  1900  and  the 
drop  in  the  rate  of  increase  to  11.2  in  1910  clearly  indicate  errors  in 
some  of  these  percentages.  The  explanation  of  these  irregularities 
now  given  by  those  familiar  with  these  three  censuses  is  that  the 
census  of  1890  was  an  undercount,  thus  causing  the  census  of  1900 
to  include  not  only  the  regular  increase  of  the  decade  1890  to  1900  but 
also  the  number  of  those  not  counted  in  1890.  The  percentages  of 
increase  readjusted  to  eliminate  the  errors  would  be : 


Decade 


Per  cent  of  Increase 


1900-1910  

11.2 

1890-1900  

14.0 

1880-1890  

18.0 

1870-1880  

22.0 

1860-1870  

21.3 

According  to  this  series  there  has  been  a  gradual  decrease  in  the 
rate  of  increase  for  the  Negroes  of  the  United  States  so  that  the  in- 
crease in  1910  was  about  one  million  persons  in  ten  years,  or  11.2 
per  cent.  A  comparison  of  this  descending  series  with  that  of  any 
normal  European  people  increasing  only  by  the  excess  of  births  over 
deaths  makes  it  quite  clear  that  a  decreasing  rate  of  increase  ending 
in  a  rate  of  about  11  or  12  per  cent  is  quite  normal.  While  the  re- 
turns of  the  1910  census  are  a  fairly  accurate  measure  of  the  increase 
of  the  Negro  people  in  the  United  States  and  undoubtedly  nearer 


NEGRO  POPULATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  3 

to  the  truth  than  the  returns  of  any  previous  census,  there  is  little 
doubt  that  the  omissions  in  the  case  of  the  Negro  population  were 
greater  than  in  the  case  of  the  whites.  The  most  definite  evidence 
of  these  omissions  is  the  apparent  undercount  of  Negro  children 
under  5  years  of  age.  A  study  of  the  following  figures  from  the  1910 
census  shows  the  probability  of  such  omissions: 


Age  period 

Native  white  of  native 
parentage 

Negro 

Under  5  years  of  age 
Number  

6,546,282 

1,263,288 

Per  cent  

13.2 

12.9 

5  to  9  years  of  age 
Number  

5,861,015 

1,246,553 

Per  cent  

11.8 

12.7 

The  numerical  relation  of  these  two  age  groups  under  normal 
conditions  is  seen  in  the  figures  for  the  whites.  It  is  to  be  expected 
that  the  second  group  will  be  less  than  the  first  because  of  the  deaths 
that  have  occurred  during  the  first  period.  In  the  case  of  the  native 
white  of  native  parents  the  difference  is  1.4  per  cent  whereas  in  the 
Negro  groups  the  difference  is  only  0.2  per  cent.  There  are  three 
possible  causes  for  this  condition,  namely,  a  high  infant  mortality, 
a  sudden  decrease  in  the  birth-rate,  and  omissions  of  children  by  the 
census.  The  probability  is  that  the  three  causes  operated  more 
strongly  in  the  case  of  the  Negro  children  than  in  that  of  the  white, 
but  the  major  causes  of  the  abnormal  relation  of  the  age  groups  of 
the  Negro  children  are  undoubtedly  the  high  rate  of  infant  mortality 
and  the  failure  of  the  enumerators  to  count  Negro  children. 

Distribution  and  Proportion 

While  the  rate  of  increase  of  the  Negro  population  is  about  equal 
to  that  of  the  average  European  nation,  the  proportion  which  they 
form  of  the  total  population  of  the  United  States  is  steadily  decreas- 
ing. In  1860  the  Negro  population  was  14.1  per  cent  of  the  total 
population.  By  1910  this  proportion  had  decreased  to  10.7  per  cent. 
Not  only  is  this  true  of  the  total  population  but  it  applies  also  to 
almost  all  of  the  Southern  States.  Only  in  the  Northern  States  does 
the  Negro  population  fail  to  show  a  decrease  in  the  proportion  which 


4  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

they  form  of  the  total  population,  this  proportion  being  1.8  for  both 
1900  and  1910. 

Proportion  North  and  South.  In  view  of  the  increasing  discus- 
sion of  the  northward  movement  of  the  Negroes,  it  is  important  to 
note  the  census  returns  on  this  subject.  The  following  table  com- 
pares the  proportion  of  all  Negroes  living  in  the  North  with  that 
in  the  South  in  1910  and  in  1900: 


1910 
Number  

8,749,427 

1,078,336 

Per  cent  

89.0 

11.0 

1900 
Number  

7,922,969 

911,025 

Per  cent  

89.7 

10.3 

These  figures  seem  to  indicate  that  the  Negroes  are  maintaining 
their  proportion  both  in  the  North  and  in  the  South.  The  change 
toward  the  northern  and  western  sections  is  less  than  one  per  cent 
of  the  total  Negro  population.  The  increase  of  Negroes  in  the  North- 
ern states  was  167,311  persons,  or  about  18  per  cent  between  1900 
and  1910.  In  the  decade  ending  in  1900  the  increase  was  182,926, 
or  about  25  per  cent.  It  would  appear  from  these  figures,  then,  that 
the  northward  movement  of  the  Negroes  was  really  less  in  the  last 
decade  than  in  the  one  preceding. 

Interesting  information  on  the  movement  away  from  the  South 
during  the  last  20  or  30  years  is  given  in  the  census  returns  on  the 
state  of  birth  of  the  persons  enumerated.  According  to  the  census 
of  1910  there  were  in  the  North  and  West  440,534  Negroes  born  in 
the  South.  Negroes  born  in  the  North  and  West  now  living  in  the 
South  were  41,489.  The  net  loss  of  Negroes  of  the  South  to  the 
North  and  West  was,  therefore,  399,045.  By  the  same  process 
Southern  whites  show  a  net  loss  of  only  46,839. 

States  and  Counties.  The  increase  of  the  Negro  population  for 
the  last  decade  is  well  distributed  over  the  states.  The  largest  gains 
among  the  Northern  States  were  those  for  New  York  with  35,000  or 
35  per  cent,  Pennsylvania  with  37,000  or  23  per  cent,  and  Illinois 
with  24,000  or  28  per  cent.  The  Negro  population  of  California 
made  the  largest  gain  adding  11,000  people,  or  96  per  cent  in  the 


NEGRO  POPULATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  5 

decade  ending  in  1910.  The  smallest  increase,  only  2  per  cent,  is 
reported  for  the  seven  states  immediately  west  of  the  Mississippi 
from  Minnesota  to  Kansas. 

Closely  related  to  the  northward  trend  discussed  above  is  the 
rearrangement  of  the  population  by  states  and  counties.  Among  the 
most  striking  facts  shown  by  the  last  two  censuses  are  the  decreases 
and  the  small  increases  of  the  Negro  population  in  the  border  states. 
Of  the  six  states  in  which  the  Negro  population  decreased  during  the 
last  ten  years,  four  of  them — Maryland,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and 
Missouri — are  border  states.  The  increases  for  Virginia  and  Dela- 
ware were  so  small  that  they  can  be  classed  with  the  retarded  group. 
A  comparison  of  the  movement  of  the  white  and  Negro  population 
in  counties  of  the  border  states  brings  out  some  striking  contrasts. 
In  the  98  counties  of  Virginia,  for  example,  the  whites  gained  in  84, 
while  the  Negroes  lost  in  68.  Similar  contrasts  appear  in  the  figures 
for  each  of  the  border  states.  It  is  quite  clear,  then,  that  the  move- 
ments of  the  whites  and  Negroes  of  the  border  states  are  quite  differ- 
ent. The  probability  is  that  the  Negroes  of  these  states  are  attracted 
to  the  cities  of  neighboring  Northern  States  by  what  appears  to  them 
superior  economic  and  educational  opportunities  in  these  states. 

The  study  of  the  county  population  of  the  more  southern  South, 
from  South  Carolina  to  Louisiana,  presents  a  very  different  situation, 
as  regards  the  movement  of  the  white  and  Negro  population,  from 
that  of  the  border  states.  In  the  67  counties  of  Alabama,  for  ex- 
ample, the  whites  increased  hi  51  counties,  in  the  decade  1900  to 
1910,  and  the  Negroes  increased  in  43  counties.  Each  of  the  cotton 
states  with  their  large  Negro  population  shows  a  stability  of  popula- 
tion and  a  prevalence  of  gains  that  contrast  quite  strikingly  with 
the  losses  and  differences  of  the  border  states.  The  population  move- 
ments of  these  states  seem  to  be  governed  by  the  same  forces.  At 
any  rate,  the  two  classes  of  the  population  apparently  move  and  in- 
crease together. 

The  two  charts  which  follow  help  to  explain  some  of  the  points 
already  made  and  present  a  number  of  other  interesting  facts  as  to 
the  distribution  of  Negro  population.  The  primary  purpose  of  the 
chart  entitled  "Total  Negro  Population"  is  to  facilitate  the  compari- 
son of  the  Negro  population  of  Southern  States  in  1900  and  in  1910. 

One  glance  at  the  chart  will  show  that  Delaware  has  the  shortest 
lines,  indicating  a  Negro  population  of  30,697  in  1900  and  31,181  in 


6  THE  ANNA£S  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

1910,  while  Georgia  has  the  longest  lines  with  a  population  of  1,034,813 
in  1900  and  1,176,987  in  1910.  The  "big  four"  of  the  Southern  States 
are  evidently  Georgia,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  and  South  Carolina,  in 
the  order  named.  The  second  point  shown  on  this  chart  is  the  change 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  number  of  Negroes  since  1900.  The 

TOTAL 

NEGRO  POPULATION 


IOOOCZZD 


19101 


I 

DEL. 
MD. 
D.C. 

IB! 

97 

ei 

•B 

£E3B 

» 

VA. 
N.C. 
S.C. 
GA. 
FLA. 
KY. 
TENN. 
ALA. 
MISS. 
ARK. 
LA. 
OKLA. 
TEX. 

tsfta 

6SO,722 

024.469 

782.321 

| 

1.034  813 

n 

1 

23O.730        1 

••fEISGCOHHH 

284.706 

I^HBHH 

0.243  | 

HH33BBBBBBWH 

827.3O7 

807.  63O 

• 

^^^^366.856^^^1  1. 

esc 

804 

'55.684 
imHIJ 

020.722 

most  striking  fact  disclosed  is  the  substantial  increases  of  the  more 
Southern  States  and  the  decreases  or  small  increases  of  the  border 
states.  The  three  states  decreasing  in  Negro  population  are  as  fol- 
lows: Maryland,  1.2  per  cent;  Tennessee,  1.5  per  cent;  and  Kentucky, 
8.1  per  cent.  The  probable  explanation  of  these  decreases  has  been 
given  above.  The  percentages  of  increase  in  the  remaining  states 


NEGRO  POPULATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  7 

shown  on  the  chart  are  as  follows:  Delaware,  1.6;  District  of  Colum- 
bia, 8.9;  Virginia,  1.6;  West  Virginia,  47.5;  North  Carolina,  11.7; 
South  Carolina,  6.8;  Georgia,  13.7;  Florida,  33.8;  Alabama,  9.8;  Mis- 
sissippi, 11.2;  Arkansas,  20.7;  Louisiana,  9.7;  Oklahoma,  147.1;  Texas, 
11.2.  While  the  absolute  Negro  population  has  increased  in  all  but 
three  of  the  Southern  States,  the  proportion  which  they  form  of  the 
total  population  has  decreased  in  practically  every  Southern  State. 
In  1900  the  Negroes  were  32.3  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the 
South.  By  1910  this  percentage  had  decreased  to  29.8  per  cent. 
Over  50  per  cent  of  the  population  of  Mississippi  and  South  Carolina 
are  Negroes.  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  and  Louisiana  are  over 
40  per  cent,  and  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  are  over  30  per  cent 
Negro.  These  percentages  are  shown  on  the  following  chart  for  all 
of  the  Southern  States. 

Urban  and  Rural.  In  the  South  the  movement  of  the  Negroes 
into  the  cities  is  about  the  same  as  that  for  the  white  population. 
The  following  percentages  of  urban  population  show  how  parallel 
the  movement  is  for  both  races  in  the  nine  Southern  States  which 
the  figures  represent : 


1910 

1900 

1890 

White  

18.9 

14.0 

11.6 

Xegro  

17.7 

14.7 

11.8 

Up  to  the  last  decade  the  proportion  of  the  Negro  population 
that  lived  in  the  cities  of  the  South  was  practically  the  same  as  the 
proportion  of  the  white  population.  In  1890  the  proportion  for  each 
race  was  about  12  per  cent.  By  1900  these  percentages  had  in- 
creased to  14.0  and  14.7,  respectively.  In  the  last  decade  the  white 
people  have  sent  a  larger  proportion  of  their  number  to  the  cities 
than  the  Negroes.  These  facts  are  in  agreement  with  the  statements 
made  above  concerning  the  southern  South. 

Another  fact,  easily  confused  with  the  statement  just  made 
and  not  often  realized,  is  the  statement  in  a  recent  publication  of  the 
census  bureau  to  the  effect  that  the  Negroes  form  about  the  same 
proportion  of  the  urban  population  of  the  South  as  they  do  of  the 
rural  population.  In  the  three  Southern  groups  of  states  the  Negro 
formed  29.4,  32.3  and  22.3  per  cont  of  the  urban  population  and  35.2, 


8 


THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 


31.4  and  22.7  per  cent  of  the  rural  population.  It  would  appear 
from  these  figures  that  in  numerical  strength  the  Negro  is  as  impor- 
tant a  factor  of  the  urban  population  of  the  South  as  he  is  of  the  rural 
districts  of  that  section. 

PERCENTAGE  OF 

NEGRO  POPULATION 


19001 1 


19101 


In  the  North,  the  urban  and  rural  distribution  of  the  Negroes 
reverses  the  proportion  of  the  South.  In  New  England,  for  example, 
91.8  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  lived  in  urban  communities;  in  the  middle 
Atlantic  States  81.2;  and  in  the  East  North  Central  States  includ- 
ing Illinois  and  its  neighboring  states  the  urban  proportion  was  76.6. 
All  of  these  figures  support  the  conclusion  of  the  census  bureau  that 


NEGRO  POPULATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


9 


the  Negroes  who  have  migrated  from  the  South  have  to  a  large  extent 
gone  to  the  cities. 

The  following  table  is  a  statement  of  some  important  facts  con- 
cerning all  the  cities  which  contained  at  least  10,000  in  1910. 


NEGRO  POPULATION 

Percent  of 
Increase 
1900-1910 

rroportlon 
Negro  In  total 
population 

1910                              1900 

Washington,  D.  C  

94,446 
91,709 
89,262 
84,749 
84,459 
5  ,441 
52,305 
51,902 
46,733* 
43,960 
44,103 
40,522 
36,523 
33,246 
31,056f 
29,293 
25,623 
25,039 
23,929 
23,566 
22,763 
21,816 
19,639 
19,322 
18,344t 
18,150 
17,942 
14,539t 
13,564 
12,107 
11,014 
11.011 

86,702 
60,666 
77,714 
79,258 
62,613 
49,910 
16,575 
35,727 
32,230 
35,516 
30,150 
39,139 
30,044 
28,090 
31,569 
16,236 
17,040 
20,230 
14,608 
17,567 
17,045 
15,931 
14,482 
17,229 
18,487 
11,550 
13,122 
14,694 
11,591 
10,407 
10,751 
10.130 

8.9 
51.2 

14.9 
6.9 
34.9 
5.1 
215.6 
45.3 
31.4 
23.8 
36.3 
3.5 
21.6 
18.3 
1.5f 
81.0 
25.9 
23.7 
63.1 
«4.1 
33.4 
36.9 
35.6 
12.1 
0.7f 
57.1 
36.8 
l.Of 
17.0 
16.3 
2.4 
8.7 

28.5 
1.9 
26.3 
15.2 
5.5 
40.0 
39.4 
33.5 
36.6 
6.4 
2.0 
18.1 
33.1 
51.1 
52.8 
50.8 
4.8 
37.1 
30.4 
9.5 
44.2 
9.3 
5.4 
50.7 
44.7 
44.6 
40.2 
31.6 
2.0 

New  York,  N.  Y  

New  Orleans,  La  

Baltimore,  Md  

Philadelphia,  Pa  

Memphis,  Tenn  

Birmingham,  Ala  

Atlanta,  Ga  

Richmond,  Va.       

St.  Louis,  Mo  

Chicago,  111  

Louisville,  Ky  

Nashville,  Tenn  

Savannah,  Ga  

Charleston,  S.  C  

Jacksonville,  Fla  

Pittsburgh,  Pa  

Norfolk,  Va  

Houston,  Texas  

Kansas  City,  Mo  

Mobile,  Ala  

Indianapolis,  Ind  

Cincinnati,  Ohio  

Montgomery,  Ala  

Augusta,  Ga  

Macon,  Ga  

Chattanooga,  Tenn  

Little  Rock,  Ark  

Boston,  Mass..           .    .    . 

Wilmington,  N.  C  

Petersburg,  Va  

Lexington.  Kv... 

*  Includes  population  of  Manchester, 
t  Decrease. 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SKILLED  OCCUPATIONS 

BY  KELLY  MILLER,  LL.D., 
Dean,  Howard  University,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  world's  workers  may  be  divided  into  two  well-defined 
classes:  (1)  those  who  are  concerned  in  the  production  and  distri- 
bution of  wealth,  and  (2)  those  whose  function  is  to  regulate  the 
physical,  intellectual,  moral,  spiritual,  and  social  life  of  the  people. 
The  sustaining  element  includes  workers  in  the  field  of  agriculture, 
domestic  and  personal  service,  trade  and  transportation,  and  in 
manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits.  The  governing  class  com- 
prises government  officials,  ministers,  teachers,  physicians,  lawyers, 
editors,  and  authors.  The  great  bulk  of  the  population  represent- 
ing the  toiling  masses  is  found  under  the  first  head,  while  a  com- 
paratively small  number  is  required  for  the  so-called  learned  pro- 
fessions. In  the  United  States,  the  two  elements  are  divided  in  the 
approximate  ratio  of  twenty  to  one.  Traditionally,  these  two  classes 
have  been  separated  by  a  wide  and  deep  social  gulf.  All  honor 
and  glory  have  attached  to  the  higher  professional  pursuits,  while 
those  who  recruited  the  ranks  of  the  toiling  world  have  been  ac- 
corded a  distinctively  lower  order  of  consideration  and  esteem.  The 
youth  who  were  most  highly  gifted  by  nature  or  favored  by  fortune 
naturally  sought  careers  in  the  genteel  professions,  leaving  those 
of  lesser  gifts  and  limited  opportunity  to  recruit  the  ranks  of  the 
lower  order  of  service.  Present  tendency,  however,  is  against  this 
hard  and  fast  demarcation.  Distinction  is  made  to  depend  upon 
success,  and  success  upon  efficiency,  regardless  of  the  nature  of  the 
pursuit  or  vocation.  Honor  and  shame  no  longer  attach  to  stated 
occupations  or  callings,  but  depend  upon  achievement  in  work  rather 
than  in  choice  of  task. 

The  Negro  was  introduced  into  this  country  for  the  purpose  of 
performing  manual  and  menial  labor.  It  was  thought  that,  for  all 
time  to  come,  he  would  be  a  satisfied  and  contented  hewer  of  wood, 
drawer  of  water  and  tiller  of  the  soil.  He  was  supposed  to  represent 
a  lower  order  of  creation,  a  little  more  than  animal  and  a  little  less 

10 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SKILLED  OCCUPATIONS  11 

than  human.  The  dominant  dogma  of  that  day  denied  him  capac- 
ity or  aspiration  to  rise  above  the  lowest  level  of  menial  service.  He 
was  deemed  destined  to  everlasting  servility  by  divine  decree.  His 
place  was  fixed  and  his  sphere  defined  in  the  cosmic  scheme  of  things. 
There  was  no  more  thought  that  he  would  or  could  ever  aspire  to 
the  ranks  of  the  learned  professions  than  that  like  ambition  would 
ever  actuate  the  lower  animals.  Much  of  this  traditional  bias  is 
brought  forward  and  reappears  in  the  present  day  attitude  on  the 
race  problem.  There  still  lingers  a  rapidly  diminishing  remnant 
of  infallible  philosophers  who  assume  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  decrees  of  the  Almighty  and  loudly  assert  that  the  Negro  is 
God-ordained  to  everlasting  inferiority.  But  those  who  assume  fore- 
knowledge with  such  self-satisfied  assurance  prudently  enough  fail 
to  tell  us  of  their  secret  means  of  familiarity  with  the  divine  plans 
and  purposes.  They  do  not  represent  the  calibre  of  mind  or  quality 
of  spirit  through  which  such  revelation  is  usually  vouchsafed  to 
man.  From  this  school  of  opinion,  the  Negro's  aspiration  to  enter 
the  learned  professions  is  met  with  ridicule  and  contempt.  The 
time,  money,  and  effort  spent  upon  the  production  and  preparation 
of  this  class  have  been  worse  than  wasted  because  they  tend  to 
subvert  the  ordained  plan.  Higher  education  is  decried;  industrial 
education,  or  rather  the  training  of  the  hand,  is  advised,  as  the 
hand  is  considered  the  only  instrument  through  which  the  black 
man  can  fulfill  his  appointed  mission. 

But  social  forces,  like  natural  laws,  pay  little  heed  to  the  noi- 
some declaration  of  preconceived  opinion.  The  inherent  capacities 
of  human  nature  will  assert  themselves  despite  the  denial  of  the 
doctrinaire.  The  advancement  of  the  Negro  during  the  past  fifty 
years  has  belied  every  prediction  propounded  by  this  doleful  school 
of  philosophy.  Affirmed  impossibilities  have  come  to  pass.  The 
"never"  of  yesterday  has  become  the  actuality  of  today. 

In  a  homogeneous  society  where  there  is  no  racial  cleavage, 
only  the  select  members  of  the  most  favored  class  of  society  occupy 
the  professional  stations.  The  element  representing  the  social  status 
of  the  Negro  would  furnish  few  members  of  the  coveted  callings. 
The  element  of  race,  however,  complicates  every  feature  of  the 
social  equation.  In  India,  we  are  told,  the  population  is  divided 
horizontally  by  caste  and  vertically  by  religion.  But  in  America, 
the  race  spirit  serves  as  both  a  horizontal  and  a  vertical  separation. 


12 

The  Negro  is  segregated  and  shut  into  himself  in  all  social  and  semi- 
social  relations  of  life.  This  isolation  necessitates  separate  minis- 
trative  agencies  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  rungs  of  the  ladder 
of  service.  During  the  days  of  slavery,  the  interest  of  the  master 
demanded  that  he  should  direct  the  general  social  and  moral  life 
of  the  slave.  The  sudden  severence  of  this  tie  left  the  Negro  wholly 
without  intimate  guidance  and  direction.  The  ignorant  must  be 
enlightened,  the  sick  must  be  healed,  the  poor  must  have  the  gospel 
preached  to  them,  the  wayward  must  be  directed,  the  lowly  must 
be  uplifted,  and  the  sorrowing  must  be  solaced.  The  situation  and 
circumstances  under  which  the  race  found  itself  demanded  that  its 
ministers,  teachers,  physicians,  lawyers,  and  editors  should,  for  the 
most  part,  be  men  of  their  own  blood  and  sympathies.  The  de- 
mands for  a  professional  class  were  imperative.  The  needed  service 
could  not  be  effectively  performed  by  those  who  assume  and  assert 
racial  arrogance  and  hand  down  their  benefactions  as  the  cold  crumbs 
that  fall  from  the  master's  table.  The  help  that  is  to  be  helpful 
to  the  lowly  and  the  humble  must  come  from  the  horizontal  hand 
stretched  out  in  fraternal  good  will,  and  not  the  one  that  is  pointed 
superciliously  downward.  The  professional  class  who  are  to  uplift 
and  direct  the  lowly  and  humble  must  not  say  "So  far  shalt  thou 
come  but  no  farther,"  but  rather  "Where  I  am  there  ye  shall  be 
also." 

There  is  no  more  pathetic  chapter  in  the  history  of  human 
struggle  than  the  smothered  and  suppressed  ambition  of  this  race 
in  its  daring  endeavor  to  meet  the  greatest  social  exigency  to  supply 
the  professional  demand  of  the  masses.  There  was  the  suddenness  and 
swiftness  of  leap  as  when  a  quantity  in  mathematics  changes  signs 
in  passing  through  zero  or  infinity.  In  an  instant,  in  the  twink- 
ling of  an  eye,  the  plow-hand  was  transformed  into  the  priest,  the 
barber  into  the  bishop,  the  house-maid  into  the  school-mistress,  the 
porter  into  the  physician,  and  the  day-laborer  into  the  lawyer. 
These  high  places  of  intellectual  and  moral  authority  into  which 
they  found  themselves  thrust  by  stress  of  social  necessity,  had  to 
be  operated  with  at  least  some  semblance  of  conformity  with  the 
standards  which  had  been  established  by  the  European  through  the 
traditions  of  the  ages.  The  high  places  in  society  occupied  by  the 
choicest  members  of  the  white  race  after  years  of  preliminary  prep- 
aration had  to  be  assumed  by  men  without  personal  or  formal  fitness. 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SKILLED  OCCUPATIONS  13 

The  stronger  and  more  aggressive  natures  pushed  themselves  into 
these  high  callings  by  sheer  force  of  untutored  energy  and  uncon- 
trolled ambition.  That  there  would  needs  be  much  grotesqueness, 
mal-adjustment,  and  failures  goes  without  saying.  But  after  making 
full  allowance  for  human  imperfections,  the  50,000  Negroes  who 
now  fill  the  professional  places  among  their  race  represent  a  remark- 
able body  of  men,  and  indicate  the  potency  and  promise  of  the  race. 

The  federal  census  of  1900  furnishes  the  latest  available  data 
of  the  number  of  Negroes  engaged  in  the  several  productive  and 
professional  pursuits. 

Allowance,  of  course,  must  be  made  for  growth  in  several  depart- 
ments during  the  intervening  thirteen  years. 

NEGROES  ENGAGED  IN  PRODUCTIVE  AND  DISTRIBUTIVE  PURSUITS,  1900 

Agriculture 2,143,154 

Domestic  and  personal  service 1.317,859 

Trade  and  transportation 208,989 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits 275,116 

Total 3,945,118 

NEGROES  ENGAGED  IN  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE,  1900 

Clergymen 15,528 

Physicians  and  surgeons 1,734 

Dentists 212 

Lawyers 728 

Teachers 21,267 

Musicians  and  teachers  of  music 3,915 

Architects,  designers,  draughtsmen 52 

Actors,  professional  showmen,  etc 2,020 

Artists  and  teachers  of  art 236 

Electricians 185 

Engineers  and  surveyors 120 

Journalists 210 

Literary  and  scientific  persons 99 

Government  officials 645 

Others  in  professional  service 268 

Total 47,219 

From  these  tables  it  will  be  seen  that  only  1  Negro  worker  in  84 
is  engaged  in  professional  pursuits.  Whereas,  1  white  person  in  20 
is  found  in  this  class.  According  to  this  standard  the  Negro  has 
less  than  one-fourth  of  his  professional  quota. 


14  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

The  Negro  ministry  was  the  first  professional  body  to  assume 
full  control  and  direction  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  the  masses. 
As  soon  as  the  black  worshipper  gained  a  conscious  sense  of  self- 
respect,  which  the  Christian  religion  is  sure  to  impart,  he  became 
dissatisfied  with  the  assigned  seats  in  the  synagogue.  The  back 
pews  and  upper  galleries  did  not  seem  compatible  with  the  dignity 
of  those  who  had  been  baptized  into  the  fellowship  and  communion 
of  the  saints.  With  the  encouragement  of  the  whites,  the  Negro 
worshippers  soon  set  up  their  own  separate  houses  of  worship.  There 
arose  a  priesthood,  after  the  manner  of  Melchizedek,  without 
antecedent  or  preparation.  But,  notwithstanding  all  their  disabili- 
ties, these  comparatively  ignorant  and  untrained  men  have  suc- 
ceeded in  organizing  the  entire  Negro  race  into  definite  religious 
bodies  and  denominational  affiliations.  The  Baptist  and  Methodist 
denominations,  which  operate  on  the  basis  of  ecclesisatical  indepen- 
dence, have  practically  brought  the  entire  race  under  their  spiritual 
dominion.  This  is  the  one  conspicuous  achievement  placed  to  the 
credit  of  the  race  by  way  of  handling  large  interests.  Passing  over 
the  inevitable  imperfections  in  the  development  of  the  religious  life 
of  the  race,  the  great  outstanding  fact  remains  that  this  vast  reli- 
gious estate,  comprising  30,000  church  organizations,  with  a  member- 
ship of  over  3,500,000  communicants,  upon  a  property  basis  of 
$56,000,000,  has  been  organized  and  handed  down  to  the  rising  gen- 
eration as  its  most  priceless  inheritance.  The  Negro  church  is  not 
merely  a  religious  institution,  but  comprises  all  the  complex  features 
of  the  life  of  the  people.  It  furnishes  the  only  field  in  which  the  Negro 
has  shown  initiative  and  executive  energy  on  a  large  scale.  There  is 
no  other  way  to  reach  the  masses  of  the  race  with  any  beneficent  min- 
istrations except  through  the  organizations  that  these  churches  have 
established.  The  statesmanship  and  philanthropy  of  the  nation  would 
do  well  to  recognize  this  fact.  Indeed,  it  is  seriously  to  be  ques- 
tioned if  any  belated  people,  in  the  present  status  of  the  Negro, 
can  be  wisely  governed  without  the  element  of  priestcraft.  Broadly 
speaking,  the  Negro  is  hardly  governed  at  all  by  the  state,  but 
merely  coerced  and  beaten  into  obedience.  He  is  not  encouraged 
to  have  any  comprehensive  understanding  of  or  participating  hand 
in  the  beneficent  aims  and  objects  of  government.  The  sheriff  and 
the  trial  judge  are  the  only  government  officials  with  whom  he  is 
familiar;  and  he  meets  with  these  only  when  his  life  or  his  property 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SKILLED  OCCUPATIONS  15 

is  in  jeopardy.  If  it  were  not  for  the  church,  the  great  mass  of  the 
Negro  race  would  be  wholly  shut  off  from  any  organized  influence 
touching  them  with  sympathetic  intent.  As  imperfect  as  the  Negro 
church  must  be  in  many  of  its  features,  it  is  the  most  potential 
uplifting  agency  at  work  among  the  people.  Eliminate  the  church, 
and  the  masses  of  the  people  would  speedily  lapse  into  a  state  of 
moral  and  social  degeneration  worse  than  that  from  which  they  are 
slowly  evolving.  The  great  problem  in  the  uplift  of  the  race  must 
be  approached  through  the  pulpit.  The  Negro  preacher  is  the  spokes- 
man and  leader  of  the  people.  He  derives  his  support  from  them 
and  speaks,  or  ought  to  speak,  with  the  power  and  authority  of 
the  masses.  He  will  be  the  daysman  and  peacemaker  between  the 
races,  and  in  his  hands  is  the  keeping  of  the  key  of  the  destiny  of 
the  race.  If  these  30,000  pulpits  could  be  filled  in  this  generation 
by  the  best  intelligence,  character,  and  consecration  within  the  race, 
all  of  its  complex  problems  would  be  on  a  fair  way  towards  solution. 
The  ignorance  of  the  ministry  of  the  passing  generation  was  the 
kind  of  ignorance  that  God  utilizes  and  winks  at;  but  He  will  not 
excuse  or  wink  at  its  continuance.  It  is  a  sad  day  for  any  race 
when  the  "best  they  breed"  do  not  aspire  to  the  highest  and  holiest 
as  well  as  the  most  influential  callings;  but  it  will  be  sadder  still 
for  a  retarded  race,  if  its  ministry  remains  in  the  hands  of  those 
who  are  illy  prepared  to  exercise  its  high  functions. 

The  rise  of  the  colored  teacher  is  due  to  the  outcome  of  the 
Civil  War.  The  South  soon  hit  upon  the  plan  of  the  scholastic 
separation  of  the  races  and  assigned  colored  teachers  to  colored 
schools  as  the  best  means  of  carrying  out  this  policy.  There  were 
at  first  a  great  many  white  teachers  mainly  from  the  North,  but  in 
time,  the  task  of  enlightening  the  millions  of  Negro  children  has 
devolved  upon  teachers  of  their  own  race.  It  was  inevitable  that 
many  of  the  teachers  for  whom  there  was  such  a  sudden  demand 
should  be  poorly  prepared  for  their  work.  It  was  and  still  is  a 
travesty  upon  terms  to  speak  of  such  work  as  many  of  them  are 
able  to  render  as  professional  service. 

Among  the  white  race,  the  teacher  has  not  yet  gained  the  ful- 
ness of  stature  as  a  member  of  the  learned  professions.  They  do 
not  constitute  a  self -directing  body;  both  are  controlled  as  a  col- 
lateral branch  of  the  state  or  city  government,  of  which  they  con- 
stitute a.  subordinate  part.  The  ranks  are  recruited  mainly  from 


16  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

the  female  sex.  In  case  of  the  Negro  teacher,  these  limitations  are 
severely  emphasized.  The  orders  and  directions  come  from  the 
white  superintendent,  but  there  is  some  latitude  of  judgment  and 
discretion  in  a  wise  and  sensible  adaptation.  The  great  function 
of  the  Negro  teacher  is  found  in  the  fact  that  she  has  committed  to 
her  the  training  of  the  mind,  manners,  and  method  of  the  young 
who  are  soon  to  take  their  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  citizenship  of 
the  nation.  While  there  is  wanting  the  independent  scope  which 
the  preacher  exercises  in  the  domain  of  moral  and  spiritual  control, 
nevertheless  the  teacher  exercises  a  most  important  function  in  the 
immediate  matters  committed  to  her.  The  Negro  teacher  has  the 
hardest  and  heaviest  burden  of  any  other  element  of  the  teaching 
profession.  Education  means  more  to  the  Negro  than  it  does  to 
the  white  child  who  from  inheritance  and  environment  gains  a  cer- 
tain coefficiency  of  power  aside  from  the  technical  acquisition  of 
the  school  room.  The  teacher  of  the  Negro  child,  on  the  other 
hand,  must  impart  not  only  the  letter,  but  also  the  fundamental 
meaning  of  the  ways  and  methods  of  civilized  life.  She  should  have 
a  preparation  for  work  and  the  fixed  consecration  to  duty  commen- 
surate to  the  imposed  task. 

The  colored  doctor  has  more  recently  entered  the  arena.  At 
first,  the  Negro  patient  refused  to  put  confidence  in  the  physicians 
of  his  own  race,  notwithstanding  the  closer  intimacy  of  social  con- 
tact. It  was  only  after  he  had  demonstrated  his  competency  to 
treat  disease  as  skillfully  as  the  white  practitioner  that  he  was  able 
to  win  recognition  among  his  own  people.  The  colored  physician 
is  still  in  open  competition  with  the  white  physician,  who  never 
refuses  to  treat  the  Negro  patient  if  allowed  to  assume  the  disdain- 
ful attitude  of  racial  superiority.  If  the  Negro  doctor  did  not  secure 
practically  as  good  results  in  treating  disease  as  the  white  practi- 
tioner, he  would  soon  find  himself  without  patients.  He  must  be 
subject  to  the  same  preliminary  test  of  fitness  for  the  profession, 
and  must  maintain  the  same  standard  of  efficiency  and  success. 
The  Negro  physicians  represent  the  only  body  of  colored  men,  who, 
in  adequate  numbers,  measure  up  to  the  full  scientific  requirements 
of  a  learned  profession. 

By  reason  of  the  stratum  which  the  Negro  occupies  in  our 
social  scheme,  the  race  is  an  easy  prey  to  diseases  that  affect  the 
health  of  the  whole  nation.  The  germs  of, 'disease  have  no  race 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SKILLED  OCCUPATIONS  17 

prejudice.  They  do  not  even  draw  the  line  at  social  equality.  The 
germ  that  afflicts  the  Negro  today  will  attack  the  white  man  to- 
morrow. One  touch  of  disease  makes  the  whole  world  kin,  and 
also  kind.  The  Negro  physician  comes  into  immediate  contact  with 
the  masses  of  the  race.  He  is  a  sanitary  missionary.  His  minis- 
tration is  not  only  to  his  own  race,  but  to  the  community  and  to 
the  nation  as  a  whole.  The  dreaded  white  plague  which  the  nation 
desires  to  stamp  out  by  concerted  action  seems  to  prefer  the  black 
victim.  The  Negro  physician  is  one  of  the  most  efficient  agencies 
in  helping  to  stamp  out  this  dread  enemy  of  mankind.  His  success 
has  been  little  less  than  marvelous.  In  all  parts  of  the  country  he 
is  rendering  efficient  service  and  is  achieving  both  professional  and 
financial  success.  Educated  Negro  men  are  crowding  into  this  pro- 
fession and  will  of  course  continue  to  do  so  until  the  demand  has 
been  fully  supplied.  The  race  can  easily  support  twice  the  number 
of  physicians  now  qualified  to  practice. 

The  Negro  lawyer  has  not  generally  been  so  fortunate  as  his 
medical  confrere.  The  relation  between  attorney  and  client  is  not 
necessarily  close  and  confidential  as  that  of  physician  and  patient, 
but  is  more  business-like  and  formal.  The  client's  interests  are  also 
dependent  upon  the  judge  and  jury  with  whom  the  white  attorney 
is  sometimes  supposed  to  have  greater  weight  and  influence.  For 
such  reasons,  there  are  fewer  Negroes  in  the  profession  of  law  than 
in  the  other  so-called  learned  professions.  The  Negro  lawyer  is 
rapidly  winning  his  way  over  the  prejudice  of  both  races,  just  as 
the  doctor  has  had  to  do.  There  are  to  be  found  in  every  com- 
munity examples  of  the  Negro  lawyer  who  has  won  recognition  from 
both  races  and  who  maintains  a  high  standard  of  personal  and 
professional  success.  A  colored  lawyer  was  appointed  by  President 
Taft  as  assistant  attorney-general  of  the  United  States,  and  by 
universal  testimony  conducted  the  affairs  of  his  office  with  the  requi- 
site efficiency  and  dignity.  As  Negro  enterprises  multiply  and  de- 
velop, such  as  banks,  building  associations,  and  insurance  companies, 
and  the  general  prosperity  of  the  people  increases,  the  Negro  lawyer 
will  find  an  increasing  sphere  of  usefulness  and  influence. 

Negroes  are  also  found  in  all  the  other  professional  pursuits 
and  furnish  a  small  quota  of  editors,  engineers,  electricians,  authors, 
and  artists.  Merchants,  bankers,  and  business  men  are  rapidly 
increasing  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  Apprehension  is  sometimes 


18  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

felt  that  colored  men  will  rush  to  the  learned  professions  to  the 
neglect  of  the  humbler  lines  of  service.  The  facts  show  that  the 
race  at  present  has  not  more  than  a  fourth  of  its  quota  in  the  pro- 
fessional pursuits.  The  demand  will  always  regulate  the  supply. 
When  the  demand  has  been  supplied  in  any  profession,  the  overflow, 
will  seek  outlet  in  unoccupied  fields. 

The  uplift  and  quickening  of  the  life  of  the  race  depends  upon 
the  professional  classes.  The  early  philanthropist  in  the  Southern 
field  acted  wisely  in  developing  leaders  among  the  people.  Philan- 
thropy at  best  can  only  furnish  the  first  aid  and  qualify  leaders. 
The  leaders  must  then  do  the  rest.  Any  race  is  hopeless  unless  it 
develops  its  own  leadership  and  direction.  It  is  impossible  to  apply 
philanthropy  to  the  masses  except  through  the  professional  classes. 

The  higher  education  of  the  Negro  is  justified  by  the  require- 
ments of  the  leaders  of  the  people.  It  is  a  grave  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that,  because  the  Negro  is  relatively  backward  as  compared 
to  the  white  man,  his  leaders  need  not  have  the  broadest  and  best 
education  that  our  civilization  affords.  The  more  backward  and 
ignorant  the  Jed,  the  more  skilled  and  sagacious  should  the  leader 
be.  It  requires  more  skill  to  lead  the  helpless  than  to  guide  those 
who  need  no  direction.  If  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  they  will  both 
fall  into  the  ditch.  The  professional  class  constitutes  the  light  of 
the  race.  The  Negro  needs  headlight  to  guide  him  safely  and  wisely 
amid  the  dangers  and  vicissitudes  of  an  environing  civilization. 

The  Negro  teacher  meets  with  every  form  of  ignorance  and 
pedagogical  obtuseness  that  befalls  the  white  teacher;  the  Negro 
preacher  has  to  do  with  every  conceivable  form  of  original  and 
acquired  sin;  the  doctor  meets  with  all  the  variety  of  disease  that 
the  human  flesh  is  heir  to;  the  lawyer's  sphere  covers  the  whole 
gamut  involving  the  rights  of  property  and  person.  The  problems 
involved  in  the  contact,  attrition,  and  adjustment  of  the  races  involve 
issues  which  are  as  intricate  as  any  that  have  ever  taxed  human 
wisdom  for  solution.  If,  then,  the  white  man  who  stands  in  the  high 
place  of  authority  and  leadership  among  his  race,  fortified  as  he  is 
by  a  superior  social  environment,  needs  to  qualify  for  his  high  call- 
ing by  thorough  and  sound  educational  training,  surely  the  Negro 
needs  a  no  less  thorough  general  education  to  qualify  him  to  serve 
as  philosopher,  guide,  and  friend  of  ten  million  unfortunate  human 
beings. 


THE  NEGRO  IN  UNSKILLED  LABOR 

BY  R.  R.  WRIGHT,  Jr.,  Ph.D., 
Editor,  The  Christian  Recorder,  Philadelphia. 

By  the  term  "unskilled  labor,"  as  used  in  this  paper,  is  meant 
that  class  of  labor  which  requires  the  least  training  of  mind  and  the 
least  skill-  of  hand :  that  class  of  labor  in  which  the  novice  can  turn 
out  as  large  a  product  as  the  man  of  long  experience,  in  which  the 
wage  earned  the  first  year  is  but  little  different  from  that  earned 
after  many  years  of  service. 

Fifty  years  ago,  most  of  the  Negro  workers  were  unskilled 
laborers  on  the  farms  and  in  the  homes  of  the  South.  Of  the  4,000,000 
slaves  who  were  emancipated  by  Abraham  Lincoln's  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  there  were,  approximately,  3,000,000  ten  years  of  age 
and  over,  and  most  of  these  were  engaged  in  unskilled  labor  as  agri- 
cultural workers  and  domestic  servants,  general  helpers,  etc.  Very 
nearly  2,000,000  were  workers  on  the  farms  of  the  South,  and  most  of 
the  others  were  workers  in  the  households  of  the  South.  Those  were 
unskilled  laborers. 

There  were,  indeed,  a  few  Negroes  in  the  South  who  were  engaged 
in  mechanical  pursuits,  such  as  carpenters,  bricklayers,  blacksmiths, 
etc.,  but  these  constituted  only  a  small  percentage.  And  judged  by 
the  standards  of  today,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  degree  of  their 
skill  was  far  short  of  that  required  for  successful  competition  with 
present  day  artisans.  For  example,  most  of  the  carpenters  of  the  time 
could  not  read  and  write  and  built  "by  guess,"  rather  than  from 
written  plans.  One  has  only  to  examine  specimens  of  their  work  to 
become  convinced  that  they,  at  the  very  best,  rarely  reached  the 
average  of  skill  required  of  mechanics  today. 

In  the  North,  the  250,000  Negroes  were  practically  all  unskilled 
laborers,  with  notable  exceptions  here  and  there.  A  census  of  Negroes 
in  Philadelphia  in  1856  disclosed  a  few  hundred  who  had  skilled 
trades,  but  the  investigator  added  that  "less  than  two-thirds  of  those 
who  have  trades,  follow  them.  A  few  of  the  remainder  pursue  other 
avocations  from  choice,  but  the  greater  number  are  compelled  to 

19 


20  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

abandon  their  trades  on  account  of  the  unrelenting  prejudice  against 
their  color." 

The  figures  for  occupations  for  the  census  of  1910  have  not  yet 
been  published.  We  have  therefore  to  content  ourselves  with  those 
given  out  for  1900.  In  1900  the  census  returned  Negroes  in  the  follow- 
ing occupations: 

NUMBER  OP  NEGROES,  TEN  YEARS  OP  AGE  AND  OVER,  IN  THE  FIVE  MAIN 
CLASSES  OP  OCCUPATION 


Number 

Percentage 

Agricultural  pursuits.  ... 

2,143,176 

53  7 

Professional  service  

47,324 

1  2 

Domestic  and  personal  service  

1.324,160 

33.0 

Trade  and  transportation  

209,154 

5.2 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits  . 

275,149 

6.9 

I 

There  were  53.7  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  in  agriculture,  33  per 
cent  in  domestic  and  personal  service,  6.9  per  cent  in  manufacturing 
and  mechanical  pursuits,  5.2  per  cent  in  trade  and  transportation, 
and  1.2  per  cent  in  professional  service. 

Unskilled  labor  among  Negroes  is  chiefly  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits, domestic  and  personal  service,  and  trade  and  transportation. 

Of  the  2,143,176  Negroes  in  agricultural  pursuits,  in  1900, 
1,344,139  were  agricultural  laborers,  while  757,828  were  farmers. 
The  agricultural  laborers,  representing  the  unskilled  workers,  had, 
however,  decreased  from  1,362,713  in  1890,  to  1,344,139  in  1900; 
while  the  farmers,  representing  the  skilled  group,  increased  from 
590,666  in  1890  to  757,828  in  1900.  Other  unskilled  workers  returned 
in  1900  are  chiefly  noted  under  the  following:  lumbermen  and  rafts- 
men, 6,222;  turpentine  farmers  and  laborers,  20,744;  wood  choppers, 
9,703. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  although  the  Negro  population  has  increased 
nearly  150  per  cent,  during  the  past  50  years,  the  agricultural  labor- 
ers have  remained  almost  the  same  in  number,  while  the  more  skilled 
workers  are  constantly  increasing. 

Next  to  agriculture,  comes  domestic  and  personal  service  which 
furnished  1,324,160  persons.  As  in  agriculture,  so  in  domestic  service, 
much  of  the  labor  is  skilled  and  semi-skilled,  though  it  may  be 
classed  as  unskilled.  There  were  11,536  janitors  and  sextons;  545,980 


THE  NEGRO  IN  UNSKILLED  LABOR  21 

laborers;  220,105  launderers  and  laundresses;  465,787  servants  and 
waiters;  9,681  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines;  2,994  watchmen,  police- 
men and  firemen,  and  6,070  in  other  branches  of  domestic  and  per- 
sonal service. 

In  trade  and  transportation,  of  the  209,154  Negroes  engaged, 
the  following  may  be  said  to  be  unskilled  occupations:  draymen, 
hackmen,  teamsters,  etc.,  67,727;  hostlers,  14,499;  hucksters  and 
peddlers,  3,270;  porters  and  helpers  in  stores,  28,978;  messengers  and 
office  boys,  5,077. 

In  all  of  these  classes  of  unskilled  occupations,  the  Negroes 
constitute  a  much  greater  percentage  than  their  percentage  of  the 
population.  In  the  fifteen  unskilled  occupations  named,  there  are 
2,756,442  Negroes,  or  nearly  70  per  cent  of  all  the  Negroes  engaged  in 
general  occupations.  The  number  of  unskilled  workers  in  the  race 
must  be  at  least  75  per  cent,  or  about  3,000,000,  about  the  same  num- 
ber as  estimated  fifty  years  ago. 

During  the  past  fifty  years,  however,  there  have  been  significant 
changes  in  unskilled  labor  among  Negroes,  some  of  which  are  here 
enumerated : 

1.  The  race,  then  largely  unskilled,  has  developed  more  than  a 
million  semi-skilled  and  skilled  workers,  business  and  professional 
men  and  women. 

2.  The  standard  of  the  unskilled  worker,  himself,  has  been  raised. 

3.  The  unskilled  worker  has  adapted  himself  to  a  system  of 
wages,  as  against  the  system  of  slavery. 

4.  The  average  of  intelligence  of  unskilled  labor  has  been  greatly 
increased. 

5.  Unskilled  labor  has  become  more  reliable. 

6.  Negro  labor  has  survived  the  competition  of  the  immigrant. 

7.  The  unskilled  Negro  laborer  has  migrated  largely  to  the  large 
cities. 

8.  Unskilled  labor,  has  to  a  large  extent,  been  the  foundation  on 
which  Negro  businesses,  the  Negro  church,  the  Negro  secret  society 
have  grown  up. 

Out  of  3,000,000  unskilled  Negro  workers  who  were  freed  in  1863, 
and  the  few  thousand  unskilled  and  semi-skilled,  who  already  had  their 
freedom  there  have  developed  the  various  occupations  of  Negroes  we 
have  today.  The  most  notable  development  is  in  the  emergence  of 
Xegro  professional  men  and  women,  a  group  of  60,000  or  more  persons 


22  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

who  follow  vocations  almost  entirely  unknown  to  the  Negro  race  fifty 
years  ago,  and  to  whom  is  largely  entrusted  the  moral  and  intellectual, 
as  well  as  the  economic  leadership  of  the  group.  Next  to  that  comes 
the  development  of  Negroes  in  business  and  in  skilled  trades,  in  which 
the  race  has  built  with  fair  success  upon  the  foundation  laid  in 
slavery. 

Unskilled  labor  represents  the  great  mass  of  Negroes  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  in  one  sense,  may  be  taken  to  indicate,  today, 
the  great  mass  of  Negroes  who  appear  to  have  stood  still  in  the 
march  of  the  race's  progress.  In  a  truer  sense,  however,  this  group 
of  unskilled  workers  has  shared  something  of  the  progress  of  the 
group.  The  kind  of  "unskilled  labor"  given  by  the  Negro  fifty  years 
ago  is  quite  different  from  that  given  today.  Even  as  the  standard 
in  skilled  trades  has  increased,  so  has  the  standard  in  unskilled  labor 
increased.  The  Negro  domestic  servant  of  today  has  shown  much  im- 
provement over  the  old  house  servant,  and  one  servant  now  often  does 
the  work  of  two  or  three  of  the  older  generation.  The  same  is  true  in 
the  case  of  labor  in  various  other  fields.  Indeed,  this  increase  in  the 
efficiency  standard  has  done  much  to  raise  the  degree  of  respect  given 
much  unskilled  work  among  Negroes,  as  in  the  case  of  waiters  in 
hotels,  janitors  of  large  buildings,  butlers,  stewards  and  many  kinds 
of  "day  labor." 

But  one  of  the  greatest  changes  has  been  the  adapting  of  itself 
to  the  wages  system.  Much  of  the  skilled  and  semi-skilled  labor  of 
the  South  had  received  wages  before  the  Civil  War,  but  very  little  of 
the  unskilled  labor.  Working  for  regular  wages  required  knowledge  of 
the  use  of  money,  planning  for  expending  the  same,  estimating  the 
value  of  work  and  its  relation  to  wages.  Today,  practically  all  city 
Negroes  work  for  wages  and  the  wages  system  is  more  and  more  in 
vogue  upon  the  farms,  to  such  an  extent,  at  least  that  we  are  justified 
in  saying  that  Negro  labor  has,  during  these  fifty  years,  practically 
changed  from  a  system  of  slavery  to  a  system  of  wages. 

In  fifty  years,  the  Negro  worker  has  decreased  in  illiteracy  from 
90  per  cent  in  1860  to  30.4  in  1910,  The  preponderance  of  numbers, 
then  on  the  side  of  illiteracy,  is  now  on  the  side  of  literacy.  Today 
there  are  more  than  5,000,000  Negroes  over  10  years  of  age  who  can 
read  and  write  against  250,000  in  1863.  Though  there  are  still  2,200,- 
000  Negroes  over  10  years  of  age  who  cannot  read  and  write,  and  who 
comprise  a  large  part  of  the  unskilled  labor  of  the  race,  the  learning 


THE  NEGRO  IN  UNSKILLED  LABOR  23 

to  read  and  write  has  made  possible  not  only  better  efficiency  in  kinds 
of  labor  which  Negroes  already  had,  but  also  the  entrance  of  new 
avenues  of  labor  unknown  to  them  before. 

Not  only  in  intelligence  has  there  been  made  progress,  but  also 
adaptation  to  a  new  condition.  In  all  races,  the  unskilled  laborer 
is  the  greatest  sufferer,  and  the  hardest  to  adapt  himself.  In  1863 
the  Negro  unskilled  laborer  was  freed.  Many  of  the  farm  laborers 
have  entered  the  ranks  of  farm  owners  who  now  number  more  than 
250,000,  while  the  unskilled  group  has  gradually  become  more  reliable. 
In  the  first  years  of  the  period  under  consideration,  there  was  great 
alarm  with  regard  to  the  regularity  of  work.  The  newly  found  free- 
dom meant  to  many  Negroes  opportunity  for  idleness  and  profligacy. 
When  they  did  work,  it  was  frequently  for  a  few  days  in  the  week, 
and  after  pay  day  many  were  missing  until  their  money  was  all  or 
nearly  all  spent  and  they  were  under  necessity  to  work.  Vagrancy 
laws,  check  systems,  credit  systems,  convict  labor,  peonage,  etc., 
have  not  done  as  much  to  remedy  this  as  have  education  and  the 
awakening  in  these  Negroes  of  new  desires  and  opportunities  for 
enjoyment.  While  there  is  a  great  deal  still  to  be  desired,  there  are 
now  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Negroes  who  receive  pay  on  Saturday 
night  and  return  to  work  regularly  on  Monday  morning,  working 
six  days  in  the  week. 

The  Negro  has  furnished,  under  a  wage  system,  the  bulk  of  the 
unskilled  labor  for  the  farmers  of  the  South.  For  the  past  fifty  years, 
by  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  South's  greatest  product,  cotton,  has 
been  made  by  the  Negro  laborer,  while  its  railroads  and  streets,  its 
sewers  and  waterworks  have  been  largely  constructed  by  Negroes. 
The  writer  was  in  his  twenty-first  year  before  he  had  ever  seen  as 
many  as  a  dozen  white  men  at  one  time  working  on  the  streets,  dig- 
ging sewers  or  laying  railroads.  Born  and  reared  in  the  black  belt 
of  the  South,  he  had  only  seen  Negroes  do  this  work  and  had  come  to 
believe  it  was  their  work  until  a  visit  to  Chicago  introduced  him  to 
his  first  large  group  of  white  sewer  diggers. 

At  the  time  the  Negro  was  freed,  there  came  another  source  of 
unskilled  labor  to  the  country,  the  foreign  immigrant.  For  nearly 
fifty  years,  however,  these  immigrants  made  but  little  impression 
upon  the  Negro  unskilled  laborer  of  the  South. 

The  Negro  has  invaded  the  North,  not  only  as  a  farm  laborer  and 
a  domestic  servant,  but  also  as  a  laborer  in  public  works,  and  hundreds 


24 


THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 


of  miles  of  sewerage  and  of  streets  in  our  great  cities  are  largely  the 
labor  of  Negroes.  The  movement  of  the  city  has  been  led  chiefly 
by  the  unskilled  Negro  from  the  farm  as  the  Negro  farm  owner  and 
operator  had  no  need  to  go  to  the  city.  The  growth  of  the  modern 
city,  by  its  need  for  unskilled  labor,  urged  Negroes  to  crowd  within 
its  borders.  It  allured,  for  here  was  work,  more  steady  wages,  pay- 
able every  week  or  fortnight,  better  protection  of  person  and  property, 
better  schools,  more  excitement  and  enjoyment. 

Unskilled  Negro  labor  has  invaded  the  Northern  cities  within  the 
past  fifty  years,  and  while  it  has  been  with  extreme  difficulty  that  the 
skilled  laborer  has  found  a  place,  the  Negro  unskilled  laborer  has  been 
a  welcome  guest.  In  nearly  every  large  city,  special  employment 
agencies  have  been  opened  in  order  to  induce  Negro  workers  from  the 
South  to  come  North,  where  there  is  abundant  public  work  to  be 
done,  on  the  streets,  sewers,  filter  plants,  subways,  railroads,  etc. 
Negro  hodcarriers  have  almost  driven  whites  out  of  business  in  some 
cities,  while  as  teamsters,  firemen  and  street  cleaners,  they  are  more 
and  more  in  demand.  In  the  hotel  business,  the  Negro  is  in  demand 
in  the  large  cities,  as  waiter,  bellman,  etc.,  while  the  Negro  women  are 
more  and  more  in  demand  as  domestic  servants. 

The  cities  having  the  largest  Negro  population  in  1910  were 
Washington,  New  York,  New  Orleans,  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia. 
Their  Negro  population  in  1860  and  1890  and  1910  is  shown  below: 


I860 

1890 

1910 

Washington  

10,985 

75,572 

94,446 

New  York  

12,472 

23,601 

91,709 

New  Orleans  

24,074 

64,491 

89,262 

Baltimore  

27,898 

67,104 

87,749 

Philadelphia  

22,185 

39,371 

84,459 

Chicago  

955 

14,271 

44,103 

New  York  has  made  a  greater  increase  in  its  Negro  population 
during  the  past  twenty  years  than  any  large  city  and  Philadelphia 
is  next.  This  has  been  due  to  the  urgency  of  its  call  for  unskilled 
labor. 

In  Philadelphia,  of  21,128  males  of  gainful  occupations,  in  1900, 
13,726  were  hi  domestic  and  personal  service  or  nearly  two-thirds  of  the 
whole;  more  than  7,500  of  them  were  returned  as  "laborers  not  speci- 


THE  NEGRO  IN  UNSKILLED  LABOR  25 

fied."  Of  the  14,095  female  workers,  12,920  or  more  than  90  per  cent 
were  returned  as  domestic  and  personal  servants;  10,522  being  "ser- 
vants and  waitresses."  In  New  York,  in  1990,  out  of  20,395  Negro 
males,  11,843  were  in  domestic  service  and  out  of  the  16,114  females, 
14,586  were  in  domestic  service.  In  Chicago,  8,381  of  the  13,005 
Negro  males  in  gainful  occupations  were  in  domestic  service,  and 
3,998  of  the  4,921  females  were  similarly  employed.  These  three 
cities  are  typical  of  the  Negro  at  work  in  the  large  cities  of  the  North. 

Next  to  domestic  and  personal  service,  which  is  chiefly,  though 
not  entirely  unskilled  labor,  the  Negro  of  the  cities  is  employed  in 
the  unskilled  occupations  of  trade  and  transportation.  Taking  Phila- 
delphia, as  an  example,  .we  find  the  chief  occupations  of  Negro  males, 
who  are  employed  in  trade  and  transportation,  as  follows :  Draymen, 
hackmen  and  teamsters,  1,957;  porters  and  helpers,  921;  messengers, 
errand  and  office  boys,  346;  hostlers,  270.  These  four  trades  represent 
more  than  70  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  in  trade  and  transportation, 
while  they  represent  only  2.7  per  cent  of  the  total  men  of  the  city  in 
trade  and  transportation. 

It  has  been  the  Negro  unskilled  laborer  who  has  given  the 
heartiest  support  to  the  organization  which  has  given  an  opportunity 
for  the  expression  of  the  genius  for  organization  and  business  within 
the  race.  The  Negro  church  is  the  only  Protestant  church  in  America 
which  has  kept  hold  of  the  common  laborer,  and  it  is  the  largest  and 
strongest  organization  among  Negroes.  The  Negro  secret  societies, 
now  strong  and  powerful,  are  the  result  of  the  cooperation  of  the  Negro 
laborer.  These  societies  are  composed  of  Negro  laborers  who  have 
given  their  heartiest  support  to  all  forms  of  Negro  business,  and  have 
furnished  by  their  patronage,  the  foundation  upon  which  the  Negro 
physicians  and  other  professional  men  have  risen. 

Women  and  children  make  up  a  large  proportion  of  the  unskilled 
workers  among  the  Negroes.  Of  the  5,329,292  females  reported  by 
the  census  of  1900  as  engaged  in  gainful  occupations,  1,316,872  were 
Negro  women.  Negro  females  represented  34.8  per  cent  of  the 
female  wage  earners  of  the  United  States,  while  they  were  only  11.4 
per  cent  of  the  total  female  population.  These  Negro  females  were 
engaged  chiefly  in  domestic  service  and  agriculture.  There  were 
509,687  Negro  female  agricultural  laborers  out  of  a  total  of  665,791 
female  agricultural  laborers  in  the  country.  The  Negro  women 
constituted  76  per  cent  of  all  female  agricultural  laborers  in  the 


26  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

country.  There  were  1,285,031  female  servants  and  waitresses  in 
1900  of  whom  345,386  or  27  per  cent  were  Negroes.  Negro  females 
numbered  218,228  or  65  per  cent  of  the  335,711  laundresses;  82,443 
or  66  per  cent  of  the  124,157  "laborers  not  specified."  More  than  40 
per  cent  of  all  the  Negro  females  of  the  country  over  10  years  of 
age  were  at  work,  as  against  16  per  cent  of  all  the  white  females. 

Of  the  Negro  women  at  work  376,114  were  married  or  26  per 
cent  of  all  the  Negro  married  women,  while  only  3  per  cent  of  the 
white  married  women  of  the  country  were  at  work.  Of  the  married 
women  at  work,  nearly  90  per  cent  were  engaged  as  agricultural 
laborers,  servants  and  waitresses,  laundresses,  and  laborers  not  speci- 
fied, the  four  divisions  of  the  census  which  comprise  most  Negro 
female  workers. 

Between  the  ages  of  10  and  15  years  inclusive,  there  were  516,276 
Negro  children  at  work,  319,057  boys  and  197,219  girls,  chiefly  at 
unskilled  occupations,  the  chief  ones  being  as  follows:  404,255  agri- 
cultural laborers,  45,436  "laborers  not  specified,"  43,239  were  ser- 
vants and  waiters,  a  total  of  492,930  or  95.5  per  cent  From  10  to 
15  years  of  age  inclusive,  49.3  per  cent  of  all  the  Negro  boys  of  the 
country,  and  30.6  per  cent  of  the  Negro  girls  were  engaged  in  gain- 
ful occupations,  chiefly  unskilled,  as  against  22.5  per  cent  and  7  per 
cent  for  white  boys  and  girls  respectively. 

The  last  named  item,  showing  that  nearly  half  of  the  Negro 
boys  and  nearly  a  third  of  the  Negro  girls  from  10  to  15  years  of 
age  are  workers  in  unskilled  occupations,  should  be  compared  with 
the  following  report  from  the  same  census:  There  were  548,661 
Negro  boys  of  the  ages  of  10  to  14  inclusive.  Only  277,846  of 
these  were  in  school.  Of  the  1,092,020  Negro  children  10  years 
to  14  years  inclusive,  only  587,583  or  54  per  cent  were  in  school, 
while  504,437  or  46  per  cent  were  out  of  school;  and  only  255,730, 
or  20  per  cent  of  the  total  Negro  boys  of  this  age  period,  received 
six  months  of  schooling.  The  remaining  866,290  Negro  boys  and 
girls  10  to  14  years,  86  per  cent  of  the  total  of  that  age  period,  who 
got  less  than  six  months  of  schooling,  and  certainly  the  504,437  who 
got  no  schooling  at  all  during  the  census  year,  make  up  the  great 
mass  of  the  Negro  unskilled  laborers  whose  families  in  the  future 
must  be  supported  by  the  work  of  father,  mother  and  child  to  the 
physical,  moral  and  economic  detriment  of  our  country. 


THE  NEGRO  IN  UNSKILLED  LABOR  27 

On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been  chiefly  the  school  which  is  gradu- 
ally raising  the  Negro  from  unskilled  to  skilled  labor,  and  making 
even  his  unskilled  service  more  productive,  by  enlarging  his  desires 
for  consumption,  increasing  his  foresight,  and  in  general  strengthen- 
ing his  character. 


DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  TIDEWATER  COUNTIES  OF 

VIRGINIA 

BY  T.  C.  WALKER, 

Gloucester  Courthouse,  Va. 

About  fifty  years  ago  occurred  the  emancipation  of  four  million 
slaves.  Prior  to  the  general  emancipation  there  were  in  each  state, 
and  perhaps  in  each  county  of  the  Southern  States,  a  few  who  were 
called  free  Negroes.  The  only  difference  in  the  two  classes  of  Negroes 
was  that  one  was  without  task-masters,  though  subject  to  all  the 
hardships  of  slavery  save  the  task-master.  A  few  of  these  free  Negroes 
in  each  county  owned  a  small  acreage.  At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War, 
as  far  as  our  records  disclose,  the  free  Negroes  owned  537  acres  of 
land  in  Gloucester  County.  This  information  is  not  claimed  to  be 
thoroughly  accurate  because  of  the  destruction  of  the  records  during 
the  Civil  War.  Even  the  United  States  Government,  prior  to  1880, 
as  far  as  my  information  goes,  had  not  seen  fit  to  tabulate  Negro 
ownership  of  land. 

In  every  clerk's  office,  if  not  destroyed,  will  be  found  copies  of 
the  United  States  census  report  for  the  year  1880.  While  these  reports 
do  not  tabulate  Negro  ownership  of  land,  they  do  with  the  aid  of  old 
citizens  give  such  information  as  enables  us  to  come  to  some  definite 
conclusion  as  to  land  ownership  by  Negroes.  This  census  report 
shows  that  in  Gloucester  County  there  were  195  Negroes  who  owned 
about  2300  acres  of  land.  There  were  others  who  had  begun  to  buy 
but  whose  titles  were  not  perfected.  The  legislature  of  1890-1891 
provided  for  the  separate  enlistment  of  property  by  the  two  races. 
Since  that  time  we  have  been  able  to  give  some  definite  idea  of  the 
ownership  of  land  in  Virginia.  Each  year  there  has  been  a  general 
increase  in  the  ownership  of  land  in  all  the  Tidewater  counties.  The 
auditor's  report  of  1912  shows  that  there  are  132,897  acres  of  land  in 
Gloucester  County.  Of  this  amount  the  Negro  holding  has  increased 
from  2,300  acres  in  1880  to  19,772  acres  in  1912,  valued  at  $139,619 
with  improvements  valued  at  $122,444.  Prior  to  1880  there  were 
no  buildings  and  improvements  worth  counting  on  the  land  owned 

28 


TIDEWATER  COUNTIES  OF  VIRGINIA  29 

by  Negroes.  The  great  bulk  of  them  lived  in  one  room  log  cabins. 
I  have  designated  for  convenience  sake  the  following  counties  as 
"Tidewater"  counties,  viz.,  Accomac,  Caroline,  Charles  City,  Elizabeth 
City,  Essex,  Gloucester,  Isle  of  Wight,  James  City,  King  and  Queen, 
King  William,  Lancaster,  Mathews,  Middlesex,  Nansemond,  New 
Kent,  Norfolk,  Northampton,  Northumberland,  Richmond,  Princess 
Anne,  Southampton,  Warwick,  Westmoreland  and  York.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  it  is  fair  to  estimate  in  the  absence  of  any  definite 
record  that  the  Negroes  in  these  twenty-four  counties  owned  less 
than  5,000  acres  of  land.  Their  holdings  have  increased  during 
this  period  of  fifty  years  from  about  5,000  acres,  whose  estimated 
value  with  improvements  was  less  than  $70,000,  to  421,465  acres, 
whose  value  with  improvements  according  to  the  auditor,  is  $4,282,- 
947.  According  to  the  auditor  of  Virginia  for  1912  the  Negroes 
own  in  the  whole  state  1,629,626  acres  valued  at  $8,664,625,  and 
the  total  value  of  Negro  farm  lands  in  Virginia  with  improvements 
thereon  is  $14,156,757. 

These  farm  lands  are  increasing  in  value  year  by  year  due  to 
the  increased  knowledge  of  agriculture  by  the  great  bulk  of  Negroes. 
The  census  reports  for  1900  show  that  there  were  44,834  Negro 
farmers  in  the  state.  Of  this  number  26,566  owned  their  lands 
while  17,030  were  renters.  The  census  of  1910  tells  us  there  were 
48,114  Negro  farmers  in  the  state.  Of  this  number  32,228  owned 
their  farms  while  15,706  rented.  Of  these  32,228  farms,  26,200  are 
free  of  mortgage  or  debt,  leaving  but  5,609  mortgaged.  There  may 
be  some  discrepancy  in  the  value  as  estimated  by  the  census  bureau 
and  that  by  the  auditor  of  public  accounts.  The  auditor  fixes  his 
value  for  taxation  and  the  Negro  holdings  are  put  upon  the  same 
footing  with  white  holdings  to  evade  taxation,  while  the  census 
bureau  fixes  its  basis  of  valuation  by  the  actual  observation  of  the 
enumerators  as  they  go  upon  those  farms. 

The  period  from  1900  to  1910,  according  to  the  census  bureau, 
shows  that  the  increase  of  Negro  farm  owners  is  21.3  per  cent.  It 
is  also  shown  that  67  per  cent  of  the  Negro  farmers  of  Virginia 
own  their  farms  while  the  census  of  1900  shows  59.3  per  cent. 
Gloucester  County,  for  the  size  of  its  acreage  and  Negro  population 
has  perhaps  the  largest  number  of  Negro  land  owners  of  any  one 
county  in  the  state.  We  have  shown  that  in  1880  there  were  195 
while  today  there  are  1895  Negro  land  owners. 


30  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

The  greatest  agency  employed  in  the  development  of  the  Tide- 
water counties,  in  fact  of  the  state  of  Virginia,  in  educational  and  mate- 
rial conditions,  is  the  Hampton  Normal  School  located  at  Hampton, 
Va.  For  forty  or  more  years  this  school  has  been  sending  out  its 
graduates  until  every  county  in  the  Tidewater  section,  and  many 
other  counties  in  the  state,  have  Hampton  graduates  with  the 
Hampton  spirit.  They  go  forth  to  make  peace  and  cultivate  the 
most  friendly  feeling  between  the  races.  Another  branch  of  this 
agency  now  employed  in  the  development  of  the  soil  is  Hampton's 
direct  agents  and  graduates  who  live  among  the  people,  and  the 
cooperative  demonstration  farm  work  as  carried  on  in  cooperation 
with  the  Hampton  School  and  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture.  Mr.  J.  B.  Pierce,  a  Hampton  graduate,  is  the  director 
of  the  demonstration  work  in  Virginia. 

Nothing  could  show  progress  more  than  the  increased  output 
of  farm  products,  the  accumulation  of  improved  farm  implements 
and  improved  stock.  The  outgrowth  of  this  development  is  the 
great  number  of  bank  deposits  in  the  banks  of  Tidewater,  especially 
those  located  in  the  rural  districts.  I  am  informed  that  the  Negroes 
of  Gloucester  County  have  on  savings  deposits  in  the  bank  at  Glouces- 
ter Court  House  more  than  $20,000,  not  to  say  anything  about  the 
running  accounts  in  the  two  banks  in  the  county.  In  1880  there 
was  not  a  Negro  in  Gloucester  depositing  in  any  bank  and  few 
in  all  Tidewater,  Va.  The  increase  in  the  accumulation  of  town 
and  city  property  has  followed  close  in  the  wake  of  the  rural  sec- 
tions. In  1880  they  owned  few  town  or  city  lots.  Today  the  town 
lots  with  improvements  are  valued  at  $3,134,008,  while  the  city 
lots  are  valued  at  $3,164,272,  with  improvements  valued  at  $5,140,- 
335.  At  the  close  of  the  war  it  is  fair  to  presume,  in  the  absence 
of  records,  that  the  entire  Negro  population  of  Virginia  did  not 
pay  taxes  on  $1,000,000  worth  of  property;  today,  according  to  the 
auditor,  they  pay  taxes  on  real  property  valued  at  $25,595,402.  I 
have  referred  to  the  possible  discrepancy  as  estimated  by  the  state 
and  census  bureaus.  The  census  bureau  for  1910  puts  the  value  of 
all  farms  owned  by  Negroes  in  Virginia  at  $28,059,538,  while  the 
auditor,  as  just  stated,  collects  from  the  Negroes  taxes  on  realty 
valued  at  $25,595,402. 

For  the  comforts  of  life  and  as  a  mark  of  increased  civilization 
the  personal  property  owned  by  any  race  is  a  fair  test.  Fifty  years 


TIDEWATER  COUNTIES  OF  VIRGINIA  31 

ago  the  Negroes  of  these  Tidewater  counties  owned  but  little  per- 
sonal property.  Their  furniture  consisted  of  old  chests,  boxes  and 
roughly  made  bureaus,  bedsteads  and  the  like.  Today  such  prop- 
erty as  they  then  had,  save,  perhaps,  one  feather  bed  and  two  pil- 
lows usually  held  by  each  family,  would  not  be  assessed  at  any 
value.  The  character  of  personal  property,  such  as  house  furniture, 
cooking  utensils  and  the  like,  now  possessed  by  them,  is  such  as 
is  produced  in  some  of  the  best  factories  of  the  country.  Many 
oHhese  homes  have  in  them  up-to-date  musical  instruments.  Pleas- 
ure carriages  and  buggies  are  among  the  advanced  acquisitions.  It 
is  well-nigh  impossible  to  give  accurately  the  value  of  the  personal 
property  year  by  year.  I  have  taken  the  auditor's  report  for  1904 
as  the  first  basis  of  improvement  in  the  acquisition  of  personal 
property.  By  this  report  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Negroes  of  these 
twenty-four  counties  pay  taxes  on  personal  property  valued  at 
•<l  ,771,358.  The  auditor's  report  for  1912  shows  that  the  Negroes  in 
these  24  counties  paid  over  to  the  state  $20,818.24,  the  amount  from 
taxes  assessed  on  personal  property. 

We  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  race  problem.  The  problem 
becomes  more  acute  as  race  prejudice  increases.  The  Negroes  of 
these  Tidewater  counties,  in  fact  all  over  the  state,  have  been  greatly 
encouraged  in  their  efforts  to  accumulate  property  and  to  become 
substantial  citizens  by  the  best  element  of  native  white  people. 
The  encouragement  given  by  the  better  element  of  the  white  people 
has  meant  more  to  the  Negro  than  it  is  possible  to  estimate.  I 
do  not  mean  by  this  that  the  Negro  has  been  accorded  all  of  his 
rights.  With  the  same  friendly  feeling  and  the  same  anxiety  on 
the  part  of  the  better  element  of  white  people  to  see  the  Negro 
have  fair  play  as  to  home  making  and  character  building,  there  is 
a  great  future  for  further  development  of  these  Tidewater  counties. 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE  IMMIGRANT    IN  THE  TWO 

AMERICAS 
AN  INTERNATIONAL  ASPECT  OF  THE  COLOR  PROBLEM 

BY  JAMES  B.  CLARKE, 

- 1 
New  York  City. 

To  the  colored  man  of  foreign  birth,  and  especially  of  Latin- 
American  origin,  who  lands  on  American  shores  fifty  years  after  the 
issuance  of  the  emancipation  proclamation,  the  keenness  of  racial  anti- 
pathy and  the  persistence  of  statutory  discrimination  in  various 
states  against  persons  of  African  descent  form  a  feature  of  American 
life  as  puzzling  in  its  raison  d'etre  as  it  is  annoying  and  unpleasant  in 
its  operation.  "Why  is  it,"  asked  the  distinctly  Negroid  officers  and 
sailors  of  the  Brazilian  dreadnaught  which  recently  visited  this  country, 
"that  in  the  street  cars  at  Norfolk  we  had  to  be  separated  from  our 
white  or  white  Indian  fellows  and  friends?  In  New  York  the  petty 
officers  of  our  ship  were  invited  to  an  entertainment  by  the  men  of 
similar  rating  on  an  American  battleship  and  the  waiters  at  the  hotel 
refused  to  serve  some  of  our  men  who  were  black.  We  cannot  under- 
stand these  things." 

Small  wonder  that  the  foreign  visitors  should  have  evinced  sur- 
prise at  this  disagreeable  feature  of  an  otherwise  memorably  pleasant 
reception  in  the  United  States  of  America.  It  is  hardly  twenty-five 
years  since  the  last  vestiges  of  slavery  were  removed  from  the  then 
infant  United  States  of  Brazil,  but  that  country  knows  no  distinction 
of  color  or  race.  Law  and  custom  guarantee  equal  opportunity  to 
all  citizens  in  every  field  of  usefulness  to  the  republic,  and  some  of 
the  most  distinguished  presidents,  to  say  nothing  of  lesser  officials, 
have  been  men  of  Negro  blood.  In  this  country,  on  the  other  hand, 
where  people  have  better  opportunities  for  education  and  ought  to 
be  and  claim  to  be  more  enlightened  and  humane  than  the  peoples 
to  the  south,  fifty  years  after  a  most  destructive  war  which  is  supposed 
to  have  abolished  all  distinctions  in  citizenship,  racial  prejudice  pur- 
sues with  a  most  relentless  and  intolerant  hatred  the  faintest  trace 

32 


NEGRO  AND  IMMIGRANT  IN  THE  Two  AMERICAS  33 

of  African  blood  and  even  over-rides  the  common  demands  of  inter- 
national courtesy  and  renders  impossible  the  attainment  of  that  Pan- 
American  Union,  based  on  genuine  good-will  and  mutual  respect,  which 
the  republic  of  the  north  is  now  so  anxious  to  form. 

The  characteristic  point  of  view  of  the  Latin- American  with  regard 
to  the  diverse  constituent  elements  in  the  population  of  his  country 
is  that  racial  considerations  shall  not  operate  to  deprive  a  citizen  of 
the  opportunity  of  useful  service  to  his  country  nor  to  rob  him  of  the 
recognition  due  to  such  service.  No  man  is  assumed  to  be  superior 
or  inferior  to  any  other  man  because  of  the  color  of  his  grandmother's 
skin.  Every  man  who  demonstrates  his  worth  commands  and  receives 
the  respect  and  appreciation  of  his  fellows.  Political  and  economic 
difficulties  and  dissensions  there  may  be,  but  race  is  not  a  controlling 
factor  in  governmental  policy  and  in  the  everyday  conduct  of  the 
people.  The  Indian,  Benito  Juarez,  proved  himself  at  least  a  more 
enduring  ruler  of  Mexico  than  did  the  white  man,  Madero,  and,  what- 
ever else  may  be  said  of  Porfirio  Diaz,  the  fact  of  his  Indian  blood  has 
never  been  held  up  as  a  reproach  against  him  by  such  pure  whites 
as  live  in  the  country  of  the  Aztecs.  Nor  is  the  Spanish-American 
mind  capable  of  denying  to  men  of  Negro  blood  the  recognition  to 
which  their  abilities  entitle  them.  Despite  northern  influence,  the 
name  of  the  mulatto  Maceo  is  yet  revered  with  that  of  Mdximo 
G6mez,  of  doubtful  whiteness,  as  a  national  hero  of  Cuba,  and  Juan 
Gualberto  Gomez  is  still  one  of  the  most  honored  patriots  of  the  first 
American  protectorate.  In  countries  where  there  is  now  little,  if 
any,  trace  of  Negro  blood  in  the  population,  there  is  no  tendency 
to  forget  the  services  of  colored  men  in  the  past.  Buenos  Ayres  is 
adorned  with  a  statue  of  Falucho,  a  Negro  soldier,  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  Venezuela  has  just  dedicated  in  Caracas  a  monument  to 
Alexandre  Potion,  the  mulatto  president  of  Haiti  whose  aid,  in  men 
and  money,  to  Simon  Bolivar  at  the  most  critical  moment  in  the  for- 
tunes of  the  Libertador  led  to  the  independence  of  the  vast  region 
which  now  comprises  the  republics  of  Venezuela,  Colombia,  Panama, 
Ecuador,  Bolivia  and  Peru.  Thus,  at  a  time  when  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  could  not  have  been  enforced  by  the  nation  which  gave 
the  name  of  its  president  to  Great  Britain's  proposal  for  a  joint 
Anglo-American  recognition  of  the  new  republics,  the  earliest  formed 
and  last  recognized  of  these  nations,  peopled  by  men  who  are  by  law 
and  custom  invariably  "inferior"  to  white  men  in  North  America, 


34  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

Haiti,  the  Black  Republic,  had  already  struck  the  most  vital  blow  at 
Spanish  rule  in  America  and  paved  the  way  for  the  present  dominant 
position  of  the  United  States  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 

Knowing  these  facts,  it  is  not  surprising  that  white  men  in  Latin- 
America,  and  there  are  more  of  them  than  Anglo-Saxon  America  is 
inclined  to  think,  do  not  regard  the  possession,  real  or  suspected,  of 
Negro  blood  as  a  crime  punishable  with  eternal  and  irrevocable 
exclusion  from  everything  that  savors  of  honorable  service  and  due 
consideration  in  one's  country.  If  these  facts  were  also  known  or 
acknowledged  by  white  men  between  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the 
Great  Lakes,  it  is  possible  that  the  Brazilian  visitors  would  have  been 
spared  the  dread  of  terrors  unseen  and, for  them,  perhaps  non-existent; 
but  nevertheless,  well  founded  on  their  observation  of  the  gulf  that 
separates  the  native  white  from  the  non-white  of  North  America. 
"If  I  went  into  one  of  these  restaurants  along  Broadway,"  asked  the 
son  of  a  Portuguese  from  the  Azores,  whose  ability  has  won  him  a 
position  of  trust  and  responsibility  as  an  officer  in  the  navy  of  his 
colored  mother's  country,  "would  they  serve  me  as  they  would  in 
Paris  or  Newcastle-on-Tyne  or  Rio  de  Janeiro?"  The  only  way  to 
secure  an  answer  to  such  a  question,  would,  of  course,  be  to  enter 
the  restaurant  and  order  food.  The  response  would  perhaps  be  in 
the  negative,  but  in  any  case  it  would  most  likely  be  made  by  a  man 
who  was  not  himself  a  native  of  this  country,  who  had  not  become 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  language  and  had  not  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  relinquish  his  allegiance  to  some  European  monarch  in  order 
to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  residence  in  a  country  which  is,  to  him,  free. 
For  a  most  important  element  in  the  maintenance  of  anti-Negro  feel- 
ing in  this  country  since  the  Civil  War  is  the  constant  and  ever- 
increasing  stream  of  immigration  from  Europe. 

Fifty  years  ago,  the  waiter  in  New  York  and  in  many  other 
Northern  cities  was  usually  a  man  of  color,  as  was  the  barber,  the 
coachman,  the  caterer  or  the  gardener.  True  enough,  he  had  little 
opportunity  to  rise  above  such  menial  occupation,  but  with  the  growth 
of  the  humanitarian,  if  rather  apologetic,  attitude  toward  the  Negro 
engendered  by  the  great  conflict  which  had  brought  about  the  verbal 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  states  where  it  then  existed,  it  is  possible 
that  the  Negro's  status  in  New  York  and  the  other  free  states  would 
have  been  rapidly  and  permanently  improved,  industrially  as  well  as  in 
civic  recognition,  had  not  the  current  of  immigration,  which  had  been 


NEGRO  AND  IMMIGRANT  IN  THE  Two  AMERICAS  35 

retarded  for  a  decade  or  two  during  the  Civil  War  and  the  preceding 
agitation,  started  with  renewed  force  on  the  cessation  of  the  conflict. 
The  newcomer  from  Europe  had  to  be  provided  for.  Being  more 
suited  to  the  climate  and  conditions  of  life  in  the  Northern  States 
and  at  the  same  time  possessing  greater  skill  and  experience,  not  only 
in  the  menial  employments  which  had  engaged  the  Negroes,  but  also 
in  the  trades  and  industries  in  which  the  freedmen  had  acquired  during 
slavery  a  rudimentary  foundation,  the  European  immigrant  soon  out- 
stripped his  Negro  rival  for  the  employment  and  the  respect  of  the 
American  in  the  Northern  States.  With  his  economic  position  thus 
secured,  the  new  American,  knowing  little  or  nothing  of  the  terrible 
struggle  which  had  preceded  his  coming,  looked  and  still  looks  upon 
the  Negro  with  the  contemptuous  eye  of  an  easy  victor  over  a  hope- 
lessly outnumbered,  weak  and  incompetent  foe.  I  do  not  pretend  to 
say  that  the  immigrant  is  not  often  to  be  found  among  those  who  keep 
alive  the  torch  of  liberty  and  justice  in  America,  but  I  do  believe  that 
the  continuance  of  racial  hatred  in  the  North  is  traceable  to  the 
Europeans  whose  lack  of  contact  with  the  Negro  has  been  exploited 
and  played  upon  by  native  whites  who  have  nothing  to  think  and  talk 
about  but  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  virtues  and  capacities  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race. 

In  the  Southern  States  where,  although  there  is  little  direct  im- 
migration, the  poor  white  population,  particularly  in  the  southwest, 
has  been  largely  increased  by  recruits  from  the  Americanized  im- 
migrant population  of  the  North,  the  Negro,  by  reason  of  his  numbers, 
has  been  able  to  make  a  better  showing  in  industry.  This  condition 
is  in  no  small  measure  due  to  the  fact  that  the  ruling  classes  prefer 
the  Negro  to  the  immigrant.  But,  whatever  the  reason,  the  black 
people  still  hold  their  own  and,  despite  efforts  to  check  them,  they 
are  constantly  securing  a  firmer  footing  in  the  industries  of  the  South. 
For  the  present  at  least,  the  European  immigrant  is  not  likely  to  become 
a  dangerous  economic  menace  to  the  Negro  in  the  South.  Some  few 
years  ago  an  attempt  to  start  a  line  of  steamers  transporting  European 
settlers  from  Hamburg  to  Charleston  met  with  disastrous  failure. 
Experiments  with  Italian  agriculturists  in  Mississippi  and  elsewhere 
have  not  influenced  the  tendency  of  the  Negro  to  become  a  land- 
owner, for  The  Progressive  Farmer,  a  southern  agricultural  organ,  has 
found  it  necessary  to  start  a  campaign  for  the  passage  of  laws  to 
check  the  encroachment  of  Negroes  upon  territory  occupied  by  white 
farmers. 


36  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

Without  the  hindrance  of  artificial  restrictions,  the  effect  of 
which  cannot  be  permanent,  the  position  of  the  Negro  in  the  agri- 
culture of  the  Southern  States  seems  to  be  assured.  Present  tendencies 
in  other  industries  in  these  states,  and  it  is  only  in  these  that  the  Negro 
is  ever  likely  to  be  an  important  economic  factor,  seem  to  guarantee 
the  black  man  "the  right  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness" 
in  equal  security  with  the  white  man.  In  the  mining  regions  of  Alabama 
and  Tennessee  the  proprietors  of  mines,  with  the  aid  of  aspirants  to 
political  honors,  have  been  in  the  habit  of  fomenting  race  prejudice  as 
a  means  of  nullifying  the  power  of  union  labor  by  forcing  the  men  to 
form  racial  unions  and  by  using  the  one  as  a  club  to  suppress  the  other 
group  in  case  of  a  strike.  In  Alabama  two  years  ago  the  governor, 
without  a  shade  of  legal  authority,  ordered  the  militia  to  raze  a 
strike  camp  just  as  the  miners  were  nearing  success,  because  the 
promiscuous  arrangement  of  the  tents  occupied  by  white  and  colored 
people  did  not  meet  with  the  approval  of  a  public  opinion  which  cared 
nothing  about  the  color  of  the  men  while  in  the  mines.  The  miners 
themselves  had  very  different  ideas  and  it  is  probable  that  experiences 
of  this  kind  will  force  them  to  a  fearless  recognition  of  the  unity  and 
identity  of  the  interests  of  labor.  The  Socialist  party  and  the  I.  W.  W. 
have  done  much  for  the  admission  of  colored  men  to  labor  unions  and 
the  I.  W.  W.  has  met  with  notable  success  in  this  respect  in  the  lumber 
camps  of  Louisiana.  In  many  other  important  industries  as,  for  in- 
stance, ship-carpentry  at  Savannah  and  other  ports,  colored  men  are 
admitted  into  the  unions  with  white  men.  Southern  cotton  mills 
are  beginning  to  employ  Negro  labor.  As  a  result  of  the  recent  anti- 
Japanese  agitation,  employers  and  workmen  alike  have  come  to  regard 
the  Negro  as  the  lesser  of  two  evils  and,  in  railroad  construction 
in  several  places  in  the  West  and  Northwest,  black  men  have  been 
engaged  to  replace  the  oriental  laborers.  During  the  past  half  cen- 
tury, the  dominant,  if  unexpressed,  idea  in  the  mind  of  the  average 
white  man  toward  the  colored  man  who  sought  the  right  to  earn  his 
bread  anywhere  in  this  country  was  that  he  ought  to  be  crushed  and 
eliminated  if  his  labor  in  any  way  savored  of  competition  with  the 
white  man.  But  with  the  growing  recognition  of  the  inter-dependence 
of  the  races  and  the  increased  tolerance  of  labor  unions  toward  black 
men,  competition  between  Negroes  and  immigrants  tends  to  give  way 
to  cooperation  between  black  men  and  white  all  over  the  country. 

This  is  the  condition  that  exists  in  Brazil,  where  the  free  people 


NEGRO  AND  IMMIGRANT  IN  THE  Two  AMERICAS  37 

of  color,  both  on  account  of  their  numbers  and  of  their  ability,  had 
secured  a  footing  from  which  they  could  not  be  shaken  by  an  immigra- 
tion which  has  not  been  so  large  or  so  different  in  origin  and  standards 
of  life  from  the  native  worker  as  has  been  the  case  with  the  immigrant 
and  the  Negro  in  North  America.  When  the  center  of  American 
interests  is  transferred  from  considerations  of  race  to  the  recognition 
of  those  surer  standards  of  birth,  education  and  ideals,  by  which  alone 
citizenship  is  to  be  adjudged,  racial  prejudice  against  the  Negro  and 
Negroid  will  become  as  insignificant  in  Anglo-Saxon  America  as  it  is 
rare  in  Latin-America.  Toward  this  end  the  Negro  and  the  immigrant 
should  strive  by  removing  the  barriers  of  color  and  of  mutual  fear 
or  distrust  which  separate  them,  in  order  to  make  possible  the  reali- 
zation of  the  new  and  really  United  States  of  North  America,  without 
which  there  can  be  no  union  of  all  America. 


BY  THOMAS  J.  EDWARDS, 
Supervisor  of  Colored  Public  Schools  of  Tallapoosa  County,  Dadeville,  Ala. 

The  close  of  the  Civil  War  marked  a  great  change  in  the  labor 
system  upon  the  plantation.  The  Negroes  who  were  held  and  con- 
sidered as  property  of  masters  previous  to  emancipation  were  now 
free  men,  having  as  their  principal  asset  good  conditioned  bodies.  The 
matter  of  serious  import  which  confronted  these  simple,  but  strong, 
people  was  the  task  of  making  a  living  in  a  country  devastated  by  war. 
Former  masters  were  confronted  with  problems  equally  as  difficult  as 
those  confronting  the  former  slaves.  These  masters  had  been  deprived 
of  what  represented  both  labor  and  property;  war  had  left  them  for 
the  most  part  landowners,  and  nothing  more.  The  task  of  starting 
a  new  life  was  equally  difficult  for  both  concerned — the  landlord  with 
land  and  accessories,  the  freed  man  with  physical  strength  and  a 
slave's  experience.  The  first  two  or  three  years  after  the  war,  were, 
therefore,  a  period  of  readjustment  between  land  and  labor  under  new 
and  trying  conditions. 

Immediately  after  the  Civil  War  through  the  share-cropping, 
wage-earning  and  standing-wage  system,  labor  was  gradually  adjusted 
to  the  soil.  According  to  the  readiness  with  which  landlords  had  or 
could  secure  means,  all  these  three  systems  were  more  or  less  used  at 
the  same  time.  In  many  cases,  as  it  is  today,  the  wage-earning  and 
the  share-cropping  systems  existed  simultaneously  on  the  same  planta- 
tion, while  on  the  smaller  plantations  "croppers"  up  with  their  crops 
would  serve  in  the  place  of  earners  in  assisting  those  behind  with  crops 
on  the  same  plantation.  When  croppers  served  as  wage  hands  their 
pay  like  other  expenses  was  deducted  from  the  croppers'  share  in  the 
crops. 

The  share-cropping  and  the  wage-earning  systems  are  with  us 
still,  but  the  standing-wage  system  which  was  originated  immediately 
after  the  Civil  War  is  not  now  in  vogue.  The  method  of  work  got  its 
name,  the  standing-wage-system,  because  "hands"  worked  for  a  period 

38 


THE  TENANT  SYSTEM  39 

of  six  months  or  a  year,  before  a  complete  settlement  was  made. 
Rations  were  issued  weekly  or  monthly.  The  wage  paid  standing- 
wage  hands  was  $50,  $75  and  $100  a  year.  This  system  originated 
with  the  motive  of  holding  labor  to  the  soil  until  end  of  crop. 

That  which  seems  to  be  a  modified  form  of  the  old  standing-wage 
system  is  the  part-standing-wage  system  which  exists  today  in  many 
black  belt  countries  in  the  South.  Under  this  system  a  hand  receives 
a  monthly  wage,  which  is  seldom  less  than  $5  or  over  $7.  In  addition 
to  the  wages  paid  in  money  he  is  given  three  or  four  acres  of  land  to 
cultivate  for  his  own  use  as  a  further  compensation  for  his  service. 
In  cultivating  this  plot  of  three  or  four  acres  the  "hand"  is  given  the 
use  of  his  employer's  team  and  farming  implements  on  Saturday 
when  most  of  the  work  for  himself  is  done.  It  is  because  the  "hand" 
receives  part  of  his  wages  in  monthly  cash  payments  and  the  remainder 
in  a  harvested  crop  that  this  system  is  called  the  part  standing-wage 
system.  The  system  of  work  appeals  more  to  the  older  people  than 
the  young,  so  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  too  will  shortly  pass 
away.  It  is  evident  that  the  chief  element  in  the  part  standing-wage 
system  is  keeping  uncertain  labor  connected  principally  as  a  wage- 
hand  to  a  larger  plantation  system. 

The  four-day  plan  of  cropping  had  even  a  shorter  life  than  the 
standing-wage  system.  Under  this  system  the  "hand"  worked  four 
days  for  the  landlord  who  in  turn  furnished  him  with  land,  stock, 
feed  for  stock  and  farming  implements,  with  which  to  cultivate  a 
farm  for  himself  the  remaining  two  days.  This  system  was  quite 
advantageous  to  the  "hand"  providing  he  had  a  family  large  enough 
to  do  hoe-work  upon  his  own  farm  while  he  worked  four  days  for  the 
landlord.  In  this  system  a  weekly  ration  was  issued  simply  to  the 
"hand"  or  hands  who  worked  four  days.  In  case  there  were  other 
members  of  the  family,  other  arrangements  were  made  according  to 
ability  to  give  service  upon  the  plantation  or  around  the  landlord's 
home.  It  is  probable  that  the  system  died,  because  the  landlord's 
profits  were  small  and  the  "hand"  crops  were  poor. 

That  which  has  been  said  of  the  standing  and  the  part  standing- 
wage  systems  and  the  four-day  plan  for  cropping  has  been  sufficient 
to  throw  some  light  on  the  attempt  in  early  days  succeeding  Civil 
War  toward  adjusting  labor  and  land.  No  system  seems  to  have  a 
more  permanent  effect  than  what  is  known  today  as  the  share- 
cropping  system.  For  many  years  after  the  Civil  War,  work  on 


40  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

shares  had  a  very  different  meaning  from  that  which  it  bears  today. 
Crops  were  cultivated  for  the  one-fifth,  one-fourth,  two-fifths  and 
one-third.  In  most  cases  when  the  cropper  worked  for  any  fractional 
part  below  one-third  he  received  a  part  ration.  Dividing  crops  into 
smaller  fractional  parts  than  one-half  was  at  that  time  considered 
very  reasonable  by  those  who  had  served  years  in  bondage  without 
pay  and  whose  demands  for  education  and  better  methods  of  living 
had  no  likeness  in  comparison  to  what  they  are  today.  It  has  been 
less  than  a  decade  since  the  wants  of  each  individual  farmer  and  his 
family  have  so  increased  and  the  competition  between  landlords  in 
holding  labor  upon  their  plantation  has  grown  so  keen  that  the  frac- 
tional part  gradually  increased,  until  now  working  on  shares  means 
generally  all  over  the  Southland  that  at  harvesting  time  that  crop  will 
be  halved  between  landlord  and  cropper.. 

The  word  "crops"  as  used  in  verbal  or  written  contracts  has  par- 
ticular reference  to  cotton  and  corn.  Everything  raised  behind  the 
mule,  except  that  raised  on  the  one  acre  allowed  for  the  garden  and 
house  spot,  is  subject  to  division.  According  to  the  terms  of  the  con- 
tract, the  landlord  furnishes  the  cropper  the  land  on  which  the  crops 
are  cultivated,  and  farming  implements,  plows,  scooters,  sweeps, 
stock  and  feed  for  the  stock;  in  return  for  which  the  landlord  is  to 
have  one-half  of  the  entire  crop  made  by  the  cropper  and  his  hands. 
In  consideration  "of  the  above"  the  share  cropper  agrees  to  furnish 
and  feed  at  the  command  of  the  landlord,  all  labor  necessary  to  cul- 
tivate and  harvest  the  crop  and  take  good  care  of  all  stock  implements 
intrusted  to  his  care.  In  the  event  of  failing  properly  to  cultivate  the 
crops  he  authorizes  the  landlord  to  hire  what  labor  he  may  deem 
necessary  to  work  the  crop,  and  to  deduct  the  cost  of  this  labor  from 
the  cropper's  half  of  the  crops. 

The  landlord  permits  the  steady,  careful  and  thoughtful  crop- 
per to  use  his  mule  and  buggy  on  Sundays,  and  use  the  farming 
implements  in  the  cultivation  of  his  garden  or  very  small  plot  of 
watermelons  and  sugar  cane.  When  the  main  crops,  cotton  and 
corn,  are  not  in  need  of  work,  the  cropper  has  time  to  cultivate  his 
garden,  and  to  do  odd  jobs  on  his  house,  fences  and  stables  if  there 
are  any.  The  landlord  usually  provides  the  cropper  with  the  avail- 
.able  vacant  house  of  one,  two,  three  or  even  four  rooms  as  the  case 
may  be.  The  size  of  the  house,  and  accommodations  in  barn  and 
stable  readily  give  immediate  advantage  to  landlord,  and  cropper. 


THE  TENANT  SYSTEM  41 

It  is  not  altogether  true  that  the  landlord  keeps  the  stock  and 
vehicles  in  his  home  lot.  These  are  in  most  cases  left  to  the  care 
and  keeping  of  the  cropper  if  he  be  in  possession  of  suitable  stables 
and  lots. 

The  amount  of  supervision  a  cropper  receives  from  the  land- 
lord depends  largely  upon  how  successfully  he  keeps  his  crops  (espe- 
cially cotton)  worked  up.  If  he  gets  behind  with  his  "crops"  the 
landlord  may  compel  every  member  of  the  cropper's  family,  and 
even  secure  members  from  other  families  upon  the  plantation,  to 
clean  out  the  crops.  In  case  the  landlord  does  secure  others,  out- 
side of  the  cropper's  family  to  assist  with  the  crops,  the  landlord 
avails  himself  of  the  clause  in  the  contract  which  permits  him  to 
hire  the  labor  necessary  to  work  the  "crops"  and  to  charge  the 
cost  of  the  labor  to  the  cropper's  half  of  the  "crop." 

As  a  rule  the  share  cropper  makes  more  to  the  mule  than  other 
classes  of  farmers.  The  reasons  are  as  follows:  (1)  He  is  given  the 
best  plot  of  land  upon  which  to  make  his  "crops"  because  the  larger 
the  "crops"  the  more  satisfactory  will  be  results  for  both  landlord 
and  cropper.  (2)  In  most  cases  supervision  is  very  close,  which  is 
most  natural  since  the  share-cropping  system  involves  so  much  capital 
and  risk  from  the  landlord.  Here  we  find  a  condition  not  unlike 
that  in  every  phase  of  occupation,  an  effort  to  get  as  large  return 
as  possible  for  capital  invested. 

Crops  are  usually  divided  in  the  presence  of  the  landlord,  dur- 
ing or  immediately  after  harvesting  time.  The  cropper  gets  as  his 
share  one-half  of  the  lint  cotton  and  cotton  seed,  one-half  of  the  corn 
and  corn-fodder,  and  one-half  of  the  field  peas.  All  products  raised 
on  the  house  spot  acre  come  to  the  cropper,  undivided.  Though  the 
terms  in  the  contract  consider  everything  raised  behind  the  mule 
subject  to  division,  yet  sugar  cane,  sweet  potatoes  and  watermelons 
may  not  be  divided  providing  the  landlord  furnished  neither  fer- 
tilizer nor  seeds  for  planting. 

Upon  almost  every  plantation  of  considerable  extent  some  women 
share-croppers  are  usually  found.  They  are  as  a  rule  widows  with 
children  large  enough  to  help  out  with  the  farm  work.  These  crop- 
pers are  most  common  in  black-belt  countries,  where  the  large  plan- 
tation systems  prevail.  For  example,  one  of  these  widow  share- 
croppers of  Macon  County,  assisted  by  her  two  sons,  one  thirteen, 
and  the  other  eighteen  years  old,  during  the  bad  cotton  crop  year 


42  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

of  1909,  made  thirteen  bales  to  her  one  plow.  Another  whose  hus- 
band died  leaving  a  debt  of  $125,  and  three  children  to  care  for, 
worked  on  shares  during  the  same  bad  year,  made  ten  bales  of  cotton 
to  her  plow,  paid  her  debts,  her  expenses  of  living  while  making 
the  crop,  including  half  of  the  cost  of  the  fertilizer  used  upon  her 
farm,  and  saved  $150.  The  latter  widow  realizing  the  responsibility 
upon  her  of  debt  and  care  of  children  was  advanced  only  $35  which 
was  used  in  purchasing  food.  The  success  of  these  two  widows  does 
not  indicate  by  any  means  that  women  share-croppers  are  always 
successful,  but  it  does  show  that  under  this  system,  because  of  land- 
lords' supervision,  women  may  succeed  as  well  as  men,  providing 
they  can  furnish  the  labor. 

As  a  rule  the  contract  which  explains  the  terms  by  which  crops 
are  to  be  cultivated  and  divided  makes  no  provision  for  the  cropper's 
advances  or  food;  nor  any  disposition  of  the  commercial  fertilizer 
of  which  the  cropper  pays  for  half  out  of  his  half  of  the  crops  when 
made  and  divided.  Terms  for  advances  as  a  rule  are  made  outside 
of  the  crop-contract.  Advances  in  money  may  be  issued  directly 
through  a  banker  with  orders  from  the  landlord  permitting  the 
cropper  to  have  certain  amounts  at  stated  times.  Usually  the  land- 
lord and  the  cropper  agree  upon  a  lump  sum  of  $35,  $50,  $100  or 
$200.  According  to  the  cropper's  needs,  this  money  is  issued  in 
monthly  installments  of  $8,  $9,  $10,  $15,  and  $20.  Of  course  the 
cropper  does  not  receive  the  lump  sum  agreed  upon  at  the  time 
the  food-contract  is  made  for  the  following  reasons:  (1)  the  cropper 
might  use  his  money  unwisely  and  consequently  be  obliged  to  call 
upon  the  landlord  to  continue,  or  finish  the  crop;  and  (2)  by  holding 
it  the  landlord  has  money  at  his  disposal  for  cultivating  the  crops 
if  the  head  of  the  family  becomes  disabled,  or  does  not  stay  to 
carry  out  his  contract.  Advances  are  often  made  through  a  mer- 
chant-landlord of  a  large  plantation  who  may  have  a  store  of  such 
necessities  as  will  meet  the  demand  of  tenants  upon  the  plantation. 
In  case  the  landlord  does  not  own  a  store,  orders  are  given  by  the 
landlord  to  some  merchant  of  a  small  town  or  village,  or  to  the 
merchant-landlord  near,  permitting  the  cropper  to  have  certain 
amounts  of  merchandise  at  stated  times  during  farming  season.  In 
such  a  case  the  landlord  is  directly  responsible  to  the  merchant  for 
the  merchandise  which  the  cropper  receives.  The  interest  charged 
on  borrowed  cash  varies  from  10  to  15  per  cent,  but  in  many  cases 


THE  TENANT  SYSTEM  43 

has  been  known  to  be  considerably  more.  Furthermore,  the  inter- 
est on  merchandise  has  been  known  to  double  itself  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  cropper  pays  a  yearly  interest  upon  the  lump  sum 
agreed  upon  for  a  cropping  season  of  six  or  seven  months,  he  receives 
his  allotments  of  cash  or  merchandise  in  monthly  installments. 

The  cropper  who  for  one  reason  or  another  becomes  dissatisfied 
and  desires  to  transfer  his  service  and  that  of  his  family  from  one 
landlord  to  another,  has  been  known  to  do  so  by  getting  the  land- 
lord he  wishes  to  serve  to  pay  to  the  one  he  previously  served  the 
amount  of  debt  the  cropper  owes.  In  case  the  agreement  is  made 
the  cropper  comes  under  contract  of  a  new  master  bringing  an  inter- 
est-bearing debt.  The  amount  paid  in  transfering  croppers  has  been 
known  to  range  from  $25  to  S200. 

The  cropper  apart  from  a  plantation  is,  of  course,  free  from 
close  supervision.  He  is  more  aggressive  and  trustworthy  than  the 
plantation  cropper  described  above,  and,  therefore,  is  left  largely 
to  contract  his  own  affairs.  He  may  have  been  in  previous  years 
a  renter  who,  through  some  misfortune,  such  as  losing  a  mule,  pre- 
fers working  on  halves  until  he  can  get  sufficiently  strong  to  rent 
again.  In  case  this  type  of  cropper  owns  a  mule,  the  landlord  rents 
it,  as  a  rule,  not  by  paying  cash  money  but  by  making  some  agree- 
ment with  the  cropper  equivalent  to  what  a  season's  rent  for  one 
mule  would  be.  If  the  cropper  has  feed  for  his  own  mule  an  agree- 
ment between  landlord  and  cropper  is  fixed  in  some  way  by  the 
landlord  making  allowances  in  some  side  crop,  such  as  watermelons, 
sweet  potatoes  or  sugar  cane.  It  is  the  type  of  cropper  described 
above  that  is  on  the  verge  of  becoming  a  renter  in  case  his  crop 
turns  out  to  be  good. 

Regardless  of  the  success  croppers  may  make  with  their  crops, 
while  working  on  shares,  there  is  a  burning  desire  among  them  for 
less  supervision  and  more  freedom  in  managing  their  own  affairs. 
The  opportunity  of  becoming  renters  offers  a  means  of  satisfying 
such  a  desire,  and  very  often  a  cropper  remains  upon  the  same  plan- 
tation, occupies  the  same  house  and  rents  the  same  land,  and  quietly 
transfers  from  cropper  to  renter  without  the  least  difficulty. 

It  is  reasonable  that  in  early  years  succeeding  the  Civil  War 
both  share-croppers  and  renters  existed;  but  it  is  still  more  reason- 
able that  renters  were  fewer  in  number,  since  renting  required  an 
accumulation  of  capital,  such  as,  a  mule,  paid  or  partly  paid  for, 


44  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

some  feed  for  the  mule,  wagon  and  farming  implements.  As  the 
years  passed  croppers  went  into  the  renting  class,  first,  because  they 
desired  the  management  of  their  business  in  full;  and,  secondly, 
because  the  landlords  were  just  as  willing  to  free  themselves  from 
the  close  oversight  of  the  cropper's  affairs  as  the  cropper  was  to  be 
free.  We  have  no  figures  to  indicate  just  how  rapid  the  transi- 
tion into  the  renting  class  was,  until  the  decade  embracing  1890 
and  1900.  In  this  connection  figures  of  Macon  County,  Ala.,  will 
be  used.  According  to  the  agricultural  census  of  1900,  the  only 
census  in  which  white  and  colored  renters  and  share-croppers  were 
taken  separately  the  number  of  colored  renters  in  Macon  County 
was  2,097.  The  number  of  colored  share-croppers  was  760.  The 
preceding  census  (1890)  shows  white  and  colored  renters  taken  to- 
gether to  be  1068,  and  white  and  colored  share  croppers  together 
to  be  1,113.  In  1900  the  colored  renters  had  increased  nearly 
half  of  both  white  and  colored  renters  for  1890.  The  colored  share 
croppers  of  1900  had  decreased  over  one-third  of  both  white  and 
colored  croppers  in  the  same  time.  The  increase  of  colored  renters 
in  1900  over  white  and  colored  renters  in  1890  in  this  one  county 
gives  some  idea  of  the  rapid  change  into  the  renting  class. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  one  kind  of  renter  was  commonly 
found  upon  large  plantations  where  wage-hands  and  share-croppers 
were  employed.  He  was  subject  to  the  same  plantation  manage- 
ment as  other  classes  upon  the  plantation.  He  received  the  same 
supervision,  plowed,  cultivated,  harvested,  and  received  advances 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  share-cropper.  When  his  crops  were 
behind,  the  landlord  employed  hands,  cleaned  out  the  crop  while 
the  renter  stood  the  expenses.  The  only  difference  between  the 
renter  and  the  share-cropper  was  that  the  renter  crops  were  not 
divided;  and  to  the  renter  belonged  whatever  remained  after  rent, 
expenses  of  farming  implements,  cleaning  out  the  crops  and  living 
were  deducted.  Under  the  nominal  rent  system  more  renters  came 
out  behind  than  ahead  in  their  crops.  In  many  of  the  black  belt 
counties  of  the  South,  where  changes  for  good  in  the  plantation 
system  occur  slowly,  this  type  of  renter  is  found  today. 

The  renter  of  today  is  a  more  independent  type.  He  is  respon- 
sible to  the  landlord  for  the  rent  of  the  land  only  in  case  he  secures 
"advances"  from  his  landlord.  In  many  cases  he  sub-rents  portions 
of  his  rented  land  receiving  an  amount  little  more  than  sufficient  to 


THE  TENANT  SYSTEM  45 

pay  the  landlord's  rent.  It  is  often  the  case  that  this  type  of  renter 
owns  from  three  to  six  mules,  some  or  all  of  which  are  mortgaged 
and  through  this  means  of  mortgaging  his  stock  he  receives 
"advances." 

It  is  the  desire  of  landlords  to  rent  their  land  without  the  risk 
of  giving  "advances,"  or  the  care  of  close  supervision.  In  other 
words,  it  is  as  much  the  desire,  and  as  much  to  the  advantage,  of 
the  landlord  to  get  rent  or  interest  on  the  money  envolved  in  land 
with  least  trouble,  as  it  is  the  renter's  desire  to  advance  himself, 
and  enjoy  the  privilege  of  managing  his  business  affairs.  The  pres- 
ent trend  of  renting  conditions — conditions  which  relieve  the  land- 
lord of  responsibilities  and  which  put  upon  the  renter  more  responsi- 
bilities— is  in  this  direction. 

Two  decades  ago  the  most  common  way  the  landlord  or  mer- 
chant secured  himself  against  losses  was  by  taking  a  lien  on  crops. 
The  lien  entitled  the  landlord  to  hold  in  possession  all,  or  part  of 
a  renter's  crop  until  all  claims  were  paid.  The  lien  was  made  not 
only  upon  growing  crops,  but  often  upon  implanted  crops  as  well. 
If  through  the  crop  lien,  the  landlord's  claim  was  not  settled  in  one 
season  it  was  continued  into  the  next.  The  old  crop  lien  system 
with  all  of  its  force  and  meaning  has  apparently  changed  in  meaning 
and  form  in  some  indescribable  ways  and  since  the  renter  has  grad- 
ually come  into  possession  of  personal  property,  money  is  secured 
for  farming  by  making  notes  and  mortgages  upon  that  property. 
All  these  may  have  some  features  of  the  crop  lien  system,  but  do 
not  have  the  name. 

The  managing  ability  of  the  average  Negro  renter  is  limited 
by  the  three  mule  farm.  His  yield  and  profit  per  plow  decrease  as 
the  number  of  his  plows  increases.  For  example,  a  farmer  made 
twelve  bales  with  one  plow;  with  two  plows  he  made  seven  bales, 
and  with  three  plows  he  made  five  and  one-half  bales  to  the  plow. 
This  was  barely  enough  to  cover  the  expense  of  three  plows.  Thus 
this  farmer  increased  his  acreage  and  expense  while  his  knowledge 
of  business  and  improved  methods  of  farming  remained  the  same. 

The  rent  claims  are  first  settled,  and  in  most  cases  paid  in 
cotton.  The  rent  paid  for  a  farm  of  25  or  30  acres  ranges  from  1| 
to  2  bales  of  lint  cotton.  Paying  rent  in  money  is  quite  common 
in  some  sections.  When  money  is  paid  as  rent  for  a  farm  of  one 
mule  it  ranges  from  $75  to  $100.  There  are  two  advantages  in  the 


46 

payment  of  rent  in  money:  first,  the  landlord  receives  a  fixed  rent 
for  his  land  regardless  of  fluctuation  in  cotton  prices;  and,  secondly, 
the  renter  gains  in  money  as  long  as  cotton  remains  at  a  good 
selling  price. 

This  paper  has  been  devoted  principally  to  the  discussion  of 
the  share-cropper  and  the  renter  because  these  classes  have  a  rela- 
tion with  the  soil  and  the  plantation  permanent  enough  to  observe 
changes.  It  is  evident  that  the  daily,  weekly,  and  monthly  wage- 
earners  have  some  influence  upon  the  plantation  system  which  is 
not  discussed  here. 


WORK  OF  THE  COMMISSION  OF  SOUTHERN  UNIVERSI- 
TIES ON  THE  RACE  QUESTION 

BY  CHARLES  HILLMAN  BROUGH,  Ph.D., 

Professor  of  Economics  and  Sociology,  University  of  Arkansas;  Chairman, 
Commission  of  Southern  Universities  on  the  Race  Question. 

Unquestionably  the  problem  of  the  economic,  social,  hygienic, 
educational,  moral,  and  civic  uplift  of  the  Negro  race  is  at  present 
challenging  the  best  thought  of  Southern  scholars  and  philanthro- 
pists, as  perhaps  no  other  problem  is. 

There  are  now  many  agencies  in  the  South  trying  to  find  a 
method  of  helping  the  Negro  get  a  larger  share  of  the  fruits  of  his 
toil  and  enabling  him  to  live  his  life  more  abundantly  and  more 
harmoniously  with  the  Southern  white  man.  The  first  and,  per- 
haps, the  most  potent  of  these  agencies  is  the  Commission  on  South- 
ern Race  Questions,  organized  by  Dr.  James  H.  Dillard,  of  New 
Orleans,  president  and  director  of  the  Anna  T.  Jeanes  Foundation, 
at  the  First  Southern  Sociological  Congress,  which  met  in  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  May  7  to  10,  1912.  The  membership  of  this  commission  is 
as  follows:  W.  S.  Sutton,  dean  and  professor  of  education,  Univer- 
sity of  Texas;  James  E.  Doster,  dean  of  the  School  of  Education, 
University  of  Alabama;  James  M.  Parr,  vice-president  and  professor 
of  English,  University  of  Florida;  R.  H,  J.  DeLoach,  professor  of 
cotton  industry,  University  of  Florida;  W.  O.  Scroggs,  professor  of 
economics  and  sociology,  University  of  Louisiana;  W.  D.  Hedleston 
professor  of  ethics  and  sociology,  University  of  Mississippi;  Charles 
W.  Bain,  professor  of  Greek,  University  of  North  Carolina;  Josiah 
Morse,  professor  of  philosophy,  University  of  South  Carolina;  James 
D.  Hoskins,  dean  and  professor  of  history  and  economics,  University 
of  Tennessee;  William  M.,  Hunley,  adjunct  professor  of  political 
science,  University  of  Virginia;  Charles  Hillman  Brough,  professor 
of. economics  and  sociology,  University  of  Arkansas.  Dr.  Brough 
is  chairman  of  the  commission  and  Professor  Hunley  secretary. 

At  its  first  meeting  at  Nashville,  Dr.  Dillard  outlined  his  pur- 
pose in  calling  such  a  body  of  teachers  together.  He  significantly 

47 


48 

called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  leadership  of  state  universities 
in  the  South  is  coming  to  be  more  and  more  vital  to  the  interests 
of  the  people;  that  they  have  been  criticised  often  for  apparent 
indifference  to  the  Negro  question,  and  that  not  only  stimulation, 
but  also  actual  leadership,  was  expected  of  the  commission. 

After  an  informal  discussion  it  was  decided  to  hold  the  next 
meeting  at  Athens,  Ga.,  December  19,  1912,  when  each  member 
was  expected  to  present  a  plan.  Practically  all  of  the  members  of 
the  commission  were  in  attendance  on  this  meeting,  which  convened 
in  the  library  room  of  the  historic  and  antebellum  University  of 
Georgia.  Additional  value  was  given  to  the  deliberations  of  the  com- 
mission by  the  presence  and  active  participation  of  Chancellor  Bar- 
row, of  the  University  of  Georgia,  and  Chancellor  Kincannon,  of 
the  University  of  Mississippi.  The  most  important  business  trans- 
acted at  this  meeting  was  the  delegation  by  the  chairman  of  spe- 
cific work  to  special  committees,  which  are  to  report  next  December 
at  Richmond,  Va.  The  composition  of  these  committees  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

Education — Sutton,  chairman;  Farr,  Doster. 

Economic — DeLoach,  chairman;  Hoskins,  Brough. 

Hygiene — Morse,  chairman;  Hedleston,  Bain. 

Civic — Scroggs,  chairman;  Hunley,  Sutton. 

Religious — Doster,  chairman;  Hedleston,  Morse. 

Race  Adjustment — Farr,  chairman;  Bain,  Hunley. 

Executive — Brough,  chairman;  Farr,  and  Hunley,  Secretary. 

Advisory — Dillard,  chairman;  Chancellor  Barrow,  of  Georgia, 
and  President  Mitchell,  South  Carolina. 

A  number  of  the  members  of  these  committees  submitted  pre- 
liminary reports  at  the  second  sociological  congress,  which  met  in 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  the  latter  part  of  last  April.  The  work  already  done 
presages  the  most  scientific  and  impartial  study  of  the  Negro  prob- 
lem, with  the  ideal  of  constructive  helpfulness,  that  has  yet  been 
attempted. 

As  one  of  the  results  of  the  organization  of  this  commission  a 
number  of  students,  notably  at  the  University  of  Virginia  and  the 
University  of  Georgia,  began  last  fall  a  systematic  study  of  the 
Negro  problem  in  all  its  phases.  They  started  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Tremendous  impetus 
was  given  their  work  by  the  establishment  of  the  Phelps-Stokes 


SOUTHERN  UNIVERSITIES  ON  THE  RACE  QUESTION  49 

fellowships  at  the  Universities  of  Virginia  and  Georgia.  Practically 
all  the  Southern  universities  represented  on  the  commission  are 
offering  courses  on  the  Negro  question,  using  such  scholarly  works 
as  Weatherford's  Negro  Life  in  the  South  and  Stone's  Studies  in  the 
Race  Problem  as  texts,  and  these  courses  in  the  regular  curricula  are 
being  supplemented  by  special  Y.  M.  C.  A.  courses  on  various  phases 
of  Negro  life. 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  work  undertaken  by  these  stu- 
dents may  be  had  from  the  report  of  last  year's  study  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia.  This  group  of  students,  numbering  nearly  one 
hundred,  issued  a  summary  of  the  results  of  their  study,  in  part  as 
follows : 

"1.  A  realization  of  the  pervasiveness  of  the  problem;  that  in 
reality  it  is  not  an  isolated  situation  out  of  touch  with  the  affairs 
of  the  South  at  large,  but  an  intimate,  ever-present  problem  touch- 
ing the  life  of  the  South  at  every  turn,  and  involving  the  hygienic, 
economic,  and  moral  well-being  of  every  citizen  of  the  South. 

"2.  Not  only  has  the  problem  been  recognized,  but  much  read- 
ing has  been  done  and  much  thought  devoted  to  the  subject.  More 
than  one  hundred  volumes  were  taken  from  the  library  by  students 
of  this  question. 

"3.  Through  lectures,  books,  and  current  magazines  the  men  of 
the  group  have  come  in  contact  with  the  leading  thinkers  and  work- 
ers in  the  field  of  sociological  endeavor. 

"4.  A  library  of  more  than  four  hundred  volumes  has  been 
accumulated  and  completely  catalogued  for  use,  and  additions  are 
continually  being  made. 

"5.  Actual  investigation  has  been  made  and  a  foundation  laid 
for  future  work  of  greater  scope  and  value. 

"6.  Virginia  has  assumed  a  leadership  in  this,  the  largest  prob- 
lem of  Southern  life,  that  has  attracted  wide  attention  and  excited 
emulation." 

The  writer  feels  that  he  can  best  express  his  ideas  as  to  the 
activities  and  opportunities  of  the  commission  by  reproducing  por- 
tions of  his  address  before  the  commission,  at  its  meeting  in  Athens, 
Ga.,  last  December. 

The  South  is  to  be  congratulated  on  the  fact  that  she  has  edu- 
cational statesmen  with  far-sighted  and  philanthropic  vision,  of  the 
type  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Dillard,  of  New  Orleans,  who  has  consecrated  his 


50  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

ripe  experience  and  able  executive  leadership  to  the  social,  economic, 
educational,  religious,  and  civic  improvement  of  the  Negro  race. 
Such  a  leader,  who  is  the  inspiration  and  originator  of  this  commis- 
sion of  professors  from  representative  Southern  universities,  is  worth 
infinitely  more  to  our  nation,  to  our  Southland,  and  to  our  sovereign 
states,  than  a  thousand  ranting  demagogues. 

With  such  an  inspiring  force  as  Dr.  Dillard,  I  feel  that  this 
commission  could  do  no  better  than  follow  his  splendid  constructive 
outline  which  he  has  mapped  out  for  our  work  and,  therefore,  as 
chairman  of  the  commission,  I  invite  suggestions  in  the  following 
subjects: 

I.  What  are  the  conditions? 

(a)  Religious — contributions,  excessive  denominational- 
ism,  lack  of  the  practical  in  preaching,  etc. 

(b)  Educational — self-help,  Northern  contributions,  pub- 
lic schools,  etc. 

(c)  Hygienic — whole  question  of  health  and  disease. 

(d)  Economic — land    ownership,    business    enterprises, 
abuse  of  credit  system,  etc. 

(e)  Civic — common  carriers,  courts  of  justice,  franchise, 
etc. 

Changes  and  tendencies  in  the  above  conditions. 
Attitude  oj  the  whites. 

II.  What  should  and  can  be  done,  especially  by  whites,  for  im- 
provement? 

III.  What  may  be  hoped  as  to  future  conditions  and  relations? 
With  reference  to  the  religious  contributions  to  the  betterment 
of  the  Negro,  it  may  be  said  that  our  churches  have  been  pursuing 
a  "penny-wise  and  pound-foolish  economy."  The  Presbyterians  last 
year  gave  an  average  of  three  postage  stamps  per  member  to  the 
work.  The  Methodists  averaged  less  than  the  price  of  a  cheap 
soda  water — just  a  five-cent  one.  The  Southern  Baptist  convention 
has  only  been  asking  from  its  large  membership  $15,000  annually 
for  this  tremendous  work.  In  view  of  these  conditions,  as  Southern 
churchmen  we  may  well  echo  the  passionately  eloquent  outburst 
of  Dr.  W.  D.  Weatherford,  one  of  the  most  profound  thinkers  and 
virile  writers  on  the  Negro  question  and  the  leader  of  the  young 
men  of  the  South  in  their  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work,  "Do  we  mean  to  say 
by  our  niggardly  gifts  that  these  people  are  helpless  and  worthless 
in  the  sight  of  God?  Do  we  mean  to  say  that  1  cent  per  member 


SOUTHERN  UNIVERSITIES  ON  THE  RACE  QUESTION  51 

is  doing  our  share  in  evangelizing  the  whole  race?  God  pity  the 
Southern  Christians,  the  Southern  churches,  and  the  Southern  States, 
if  we  do  not  awake  to  our  responsibility  in  this  hour  of  opportunity." 

But  the  responsibility  for  deplorable  religious  conditions  among 
the  Negroes  is  not  altogether  with  the  whites.  While  it  is  true  that 
the  Negro  is  by  nature  a  religious  and  emotional  animal,  while  there 
are  approximately  4,500,000  church  members  among  the  10,000,000 
Negroes  in  the  United  States,  and  these  churches  represent  property 
values  of  nearly  $40,000,000,  yet  it  is  also  painfully  true  that  exces- 
sive denominationalism  and  ecclesiastical  rivalry  and  dissensions 
prevent  the  formation  of  strong,  compact  organizations  among  them 
and,  as  a  result,  there  are  twice  as  many  church  organizations  as 
there  should  be,  congregations  are  small,  and  the  salaries  paid  their 
preachers  are  not  large  enough  to  secure  competent  men. 

In  connection  with  the  character  of  the  average  Negro  preacher, 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  an  investigation  made  by  Atlanta 
University  concerning  the  character  of  the  Negro  ministry,  of  200 
Negro  laymen  who  were  asked  their  opinion  of  the  moral  character 
of  Negro  preachers,  only  thirty-seven  gave  decided  answers  of  ap- 
proval. Among  faults  mentioned  by  these  Negro  laymen  were  self- 
ishness, deceptiveness,  love  of  money,  sexual  impurity,  dogmatism, 
laziness,  and  ignorance,  and  to  these  may  be  added  the  fact  that 
preaching  is  generally  of  a  highly  emotional  type  and  is  wholly 
lacking  in  any  practical  moral  message.  At  the  April  meeting  of 
the  Southern  Sociological  Congress,  I  trust  that  some  one  will  dis- 
cuss the  necessity  of  holding  up  before  the  Negroes  the  conception 
of  the  Perfect  Man  of  Galilee  of  unblemished  character  and  spotless 
purity,  who  went  about  doing  good,  as  well  as  the  conception  of  a 
Savior  of  power  and  a  Christ  of  divinity. 

Educationally  the  Negroes  of  the  South  have  made  remarkable 
progress.  In  1880,  of  the  Negro  population  above  ten  years  of  age, 
70  per  cent  was  illiterate.  By  the  end  of  the  next  decade,  this 
illiteracy  had  been  reduced  to  57.1  per  cent,  and  by  the  close  of  the 
century,  it  had  declined  to  44.5  per  cent.  During  the  last  ten  years 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  there  was  an  increase  of  the  Negro  popu- 
lation of  1,087,000  in  the  school  age  of  ten  years  and  over,  yet, 
despite  this  increase,  there  was  a  decrease  in  illiteracy  of  190,000. 
In  1912,  there  are  over  2,000,000  between  the  ages  of  five  and 
eighteen,  or  54  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  educable  Negro 


52  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

children,  enrolled  in  the  common  schools  of  the  former  slave  states, 
and  the  percentage  of  illiteracy  among  the  Negroes  is  only  27.5 
per  cent. 

In  the  state  of  Arkansas  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1912, 
109,731  Negro  children  were  enrolled  in  the  common  schools  out  of 
a  total  educable  Negro  population  of  175,503,  and  the  percentage 
of  illiteracy  among  the  Negroes  was  only  26.2  per  cent.  Besides 
the  Branch  Normal  at  Pine  Bluff,  maintained  by  the  state  at  an 
annual  expense  of  $15,000,  an  institution  which  has  graduated  236 
Negro  men  and  women  in  the  thirty-eight  years  of  its  useful  history, 
and  six  splendid  Negro  high  schools  at  Fort  Smith,  Helena,  Hot 
Springs,  Little  Rock,  and  Pine  Bluff,  there  are  six  denominational 
high  schools  and  colleges  in  Arkansas  that  are  giving  the  Negroes 
an  academic  education  and  practical  instruction  in  manual  training, 
domestic  science,  practical  carpentry,  and  scientific  agriculture. 
These  facts  tell  the  story  of  praiseworthy  sacrifice,  frugality,  struggle 
and  aspiration. 

The  amount  devoted  to  Negro  education  in  the  South  for  the 
forty  years,  ending  with  the  academic  session  1910-11,  is  approxi- 
mately $166,000,000.  Of  this  amount  the  Negro  is  beginning  to 
pay  a  fair  proportion,  especially  in  North  Carolina  and  Virginia. 
But  the  Southern  white  people  have  borne  the  brunt  of  the  burden, 
meriting  the  stately  eulogy  of  the  late  lamented  commissioner  of 
education,  William  T.  Harris,  that  "the  Southern  white  people  in 
the  organization  and  management  of  systems  of  public  schools  mani- 
fest wonderful  and  remarkable  self-sacrifice,"  and  also  the  tribute 
of  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  editor  of  the  Outlook,  "while  Northern  benev- 
olence has  spent  tens  of  thousands  in  the  South  to  educate  the 
Negroes,  Southern  patriotism  has  spent  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  for  the  same  purpose.  This  has  been  done  voluntarily  and 
without  aid  from  the  federal  government." 

The  South  as  a  whole  has  appreciated  the  truth  of  the  six 
axioms  in  the  programme  of  Negro  education  so  admirably  set  forth 
by  Dr.  W.  S.  Sutton,  of  the  University  of  Texas,  in  a  recent  bulle- 
tin, and  she  boldly  affirms  that  the  highest  welfare  of  the  "black 
child  of  Providence"  committed  to  her  keeping  lies  not  in  social 
or  even  political  equality  but  in  equality  of  industrial  opportunity 
and  educational  enlightenment.  Therefore,  if  the  dangerous  and 
insiduous  movement  for  the  segregation  of  the  school  funds  between 


SOUTHERN  UNIVERSITIES  ON  THE  RACE  QUESTION  53 

the  races  in  proportion  to  the  amount  paid  in  as  taxes  is  to  be 
checked,  the  Negro  must  awake  more  keenly  to  the  necessity  of 
self-help,  realizing  that 

Self-ease  is  pain,  thy  only  rest 

Is  labor  for  a  worthy  end; 

A  toil  that  gives  with  what  it  yields, 

And  hears,  while  sowing  outward  fields, 

The  harvest  song  of  inward  peace. 

In  the  problem  of  Negro  education,  the  keystone  of  the  arch 
is  the  rural  school,  which  has  been  shamefully  neglected.  Dr.  Dil- 
lard,  by  his  wise  administration  of  the  Jeanes  and  Slater  Funds, 
has  rendered  an  invaluable  service  in  the  improvement  of  rural 
Negro  schools,  employing  at  the  present  time  117  supervisors  in 
119  Southern  counties  at  an  average  annual  salary  of  $301.38  to 
competent  teachers  who  cooperate  with  the  county  examiners  and 
superintendents  in  the  supervision  of  Negro  schools.  The  question 
has  been  raised  by  Honorable  George  B.  Cook,  superintendent  of 
public  instruction  in  Arkansas,  as  to  whether  these  supervisors  and 
the  funds  for  their  employment  should  not  be  placed  under  the  imme- 
diate control  of  the  state  departments  of  education  by  Dr.  Dillard, 
and  I  respectfully  submit  this  as  a  fruitful  subject  for  discussion  by 
this  commission. 

Closely  allied  to  the  proper  solution  of  the  problem  of  Negro 
education  are  the  practical  questions  of  better  hygienic  conditions 
and  housing,  the  reduction  of  the  fearful  mortality  rate  now  devas- 
tating the  race,  and  the  prevention  of  disease.  At  present  the 
death  rate  of  the  Negroes  is  28  per  1,000,  as  opposed  to  15  per  1,000 
for  the  whites.  The  chief  causes  of  this  excessive  death  rate  among 
the  Negroes  seem  to  be  infant  mortality,  scrofula,  venereal  troubles, 
consumption,  and  intestinal  diseases.  According  to  Hoffman,  over 
50  per  cent  of  the  Negro  children  born  in  Richmond,  Va.,  die  before 
they  are  one  year  old.  This  is  due  primarily  to  sexual  immorality, 
enfeebled  constitutions  of  parents,  and  infant  starvation,  all  of  which 
can  be  reduced  by  teaching  the  Negroes  the  elementary  laws  of 
health. 

The  highest  medical  authorities  agree  that  the  Negro  has  a 
predisposition  to  consumption,  due  to  his  small  chest  expansion  and 
the  insignificant  weight  of  his  lungs  (only  four  ounces),  and  this 


54  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

theory  seems  to  be  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  the  excess  of  Negro 
deaths  over  whites  from  consumption  is  105  per  cent  in  the  repre- 
sentative Southern  cities.  But  however  strong  the  influence  of  hered- 
ity it  is  undeniable  that  consumption,  the  hookworm,  and  fevers  of 
all  kinds  are  caused  in  a  large  measure  by  the  miserable  housing 
conditions  prevalent  among  the  Negroes.  Poor  housing,  back  alleys, 
no  ventilation,  poor  ventilation,  and  no  sunshine  do  much  to  foster 
disease  of  all  kinds. 

Furthermore,  people  cannot  be  moral  as  long  as  they  are  herded 
together  like  cattle  without  privacy  or  decency.  If  a  mother,  a 
father,  three  grown  daughters,  and  men  boarders  have  to  sleep  in 
two  small  rooms,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  we  must  expect  lack  of 
modesty,  promiscuity,  illegitimacy  and  sexual  diseases.  It  is  plainly 
our  duty  to  preach  the  gospel  of  hygienic  evangelism  to  our  unfor- 
tunate "neighbors  in  black,"  for  the  Ciceronian  maxim,  Mens  sana 
in  corpore  sano,  is  fundamental  in  education.  Certainly,  he  who 
is  instrumental  in  causing  the  Negro  to  build  two  and  three-room 
houses  where  only  a  one-room  shack  stood  before  and  to  construct 
one  sleeping  porch  where  none  was  before  deserves  more  at  the  hands 
of  his  fellowman  than  the  whole  race  of  demagogues  put  together. 

Economic  progress  has  been  the  handmaid  of  educational  en- 
lightenment in  the  improvement  of  the  Negro.  Indeed,  to  the  Negro 
the  South  owes  a  debt  of  real  gratitude  for  her  rapid  agricultural 
growth,  and  in  no  less  degree  does  every  true  son  of  the  South  owe 
the  Negro  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  unselfishness,  his  faithfulness, 
and  his  devotion  to  the  white  people  of  Dixieland  not  only  during 
the  dark  and  bloody  days  of  the  Civil  War  but  during  the  trying 
days  of  our  industrial  and  political  renaissance. 

To  the  Negro,  either  as  an  independent  owner,  tenant,  or  laborer 
we  partly  owe  the  increase  in  the  number  of  our  farms  from  504,000 
in  1860  to  over  2,000,000  at  the  present  time;  the  increase  in  our 
farm  values  from  $2,048,000  in  1860  to  $4,500,000  at  the  present 
time;  the  decrease  hi  the  size  of  our  farm  unit  from  321  acres  in  1860 
to  84  acres  at  the  present  time. 

In  this  substantial  progress  of  our  glorious  Southland,  the  Negro 
has  had  a  distinct  and  commendable  share.  It  has  been  estimated 
by  workers  in  the  census  bureau  that  in  1890  Negroes  were  culti- 
vating, either  as  owners,  tenants,  or  hired  laborers,  one  hundred 
million  acres  of  land,  and  at  the  present  time  the  estimated  value 


SOUTHERN  UNIVERSITIES  ON  THE  RACE  QUESTION  55 

of  property  owned  by  Negroes  in  the  United  States  is  $750,000,000. 
Of  the  214,678  farmers  in  Arkansas  in  1910,  63,593,  or  almost  30 
per  cent,  are  Negroes,  and  of  these  Negro  farmers,  14,662,  or  23 
per  cent  were  owners  and  48,885,  or  77  per  cent,  were  tenants. 
In  the  United  States  as  a  whole  at  the  period  of  the  last  decennial 
census,  there  were  2,143,176  Negroes  engaged  in  farming;  1,324,160 
in  domestic  and  personal  service;  275,149  in  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  pursuits;  209,154  in  trade  and  transportation,  and  47,324 
in  professional  service — a  remarkable  showing  for  a  race  that  emerged 
barely  three  centuries  ago  from  the  night  of  African  darkness  and 
depravity. 

However,  there  are  four  well  defined  retarding  forces  to  the 
fullest  economic  development  of  the  Negro  in  the  South,  and  to 
these  evils  this  commission  should  give  thoughtful  and  earnest  con- 
sideration— the  tenant  system,  the  one  crop  system,  the  abuse  of  the 
credit  system,  and  rural  isolation.  I  believe  that  industrial  educa- 
tion, teaching  the  Negro  the  lessons  of  the  nobility  of  toil,  the  value 
of  thrift  and  honesty,  the  advantages  attaching  to  the  division  of 
labor  and  the  diversification  of  industry,  and  the  dangers  lurking 
in  the  seductive  credit  system,  will  prove  an  effective  panacea  for 
these  self-evident  evils. 

Therefore,  as  a  Southern  man,  born,  raised,  and  educated  in 
the  proud  commonwealth  of  Mississippi,  I  welcome  the  splendid  efforts 
of  such  men  as  Booker  T.  Washington,  of  the  Tuskegee  Institute; 
Major  Morton,  of  Hampton  Institute;  Joseph  Price,  of  Livingston 
College,  North  Carolina;  Charles  Banks  and  Isaiah  Montgomery, 
of  Mississippi;  and  Joseph  A.  Booker  and  E.  T.  Venegar,  of  Arkansas; 
in  behalf  of  the  industrial  education  of  their  race. 

As  the  sons  of  proud  Anglo-Saxon  sires,  we  of  the  South  doubt 
seriously  the  wisdom  of  the  enfranchisement  of  an  inferior  race. 
We  believe  that  reconstruction  rule  was  "a  reign  of  ignorance,  mon- 
grelism,  and  depravity,"  that  the  Negro  is  the  cheapest  voter  and 
the  greatest  Bourbon  in  American  politics,  North  and  South  alike, 
and  that  as  a  political  factor  he  has  been  a  disturbing  factor  incur 
civic  life.  Personally,  I  believe  in  the  Mississippi  educational  quali- 
fication test  for  suffrage,  sanely  administered,  with  as  much  ardor 
as  in  a  literacy  test  for  foreign  immigration. 

However,  "a  condition  and  not  a  theory  confronts  us."  As  an 
American  citizen  the  Negro  is  entitled  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pur- 


56  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

i 

suit  of  happiness  and  the  equal  protection  of  our  laws  for  the  safe- 
guarding of  these  inalienable  rights.  The  regulation  of  suffrage  in 
the  South,  as  well  as  in  the  North,  is  and  always  will  be  determined 
by  the  principle  of  expediency.  But  none  but  the  most  prejudiced 
Negro-hater,  who  often  times  goes  to  the  extreme  of  denying  that 
any  black  man  can  have  a  white  soul,  would  controvert  the  propo- 
sition that  in  the  administration  of  quasi-public  utilities  and  courts 
of  justice,  the  Negro  is  entitled  to  the  fair  and  equal  protection  of 
the  law.  Separate  coach  laws  are  wise,  but  discriminations  in  serv- 
ice are  wrong. 

If  "law  hath  her  seat  in  the  bosom  of  God  and  her  voice  in 
the  harmony  of  the  world,  all  things  paying  obeisance  to  her,  the 
greatest  are  not  exempt  from  her  power  and  the  least  as  feeling  her 
protecting  care,"  if 

Sovereign  law,  the  state's  collected  will, 
Sits  empress,  crowning  good,  repressing  ill, 

then  the  meanest  Negro  on  a  Southern  plantation  is  entitled  to  the 
same  consideration  in  the  administraion  of  justice  as  the  proudest 
scion  of  a  cultured  cavalier. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  travesty  on  Anglo-Saxon  jurisprudence  to  send 
a  Negro  to  the  penitentiary  for  a  term  of  eighteen  years  for  selling 
a  gallon  of  whiskey  in  violation  of  law  and  at  the  same  time  allow 
scores  of  white  murderers  to  go  unpunished,  as  was  recently  stated 
to  be  a  fact  by  a  governor  of  a  Southern  state.  Even  if  it  be  only 
theoretically  true  that  "all  people  are  created  free  and  equal,"  and 
if,  as  a  practical  proposition,  the  Negro  is  a  "Ham-sandwich  for  the 
Caucasian  race,"  it  is  undeniably  true  that  he  is  entitled  to  the  equal 
protection  of  our  laws  and  to  the  rights  safeguarded  every  American 
citizen  under  the  beneficent  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

If  I  may  use  the  eloquent  words  of  the  golden-tongued,  clear- 
visioned,  and  lion-hearted  Bishop  Charles  B.  Galloway,  "The  race 
problem  is  no  question  for  small  politicians,  but  for  broad-minded 
patriotic  statesmen.  It  is  not  for  non-resident  theorists,  but  for 
clear-visioned  humanitarians.  All  our  dealings  with  the  Negro 
should  be  in  the  spirit  of  the  Man  of  Galilee." 

The  task  confronting  this  commission,  composed  of  Southern 
white  men  and  representing  the  universities  of  the  South,  is  Atlan- 


SOUTHERN  UNIVERSITIES  ON  THE  RACE  QUESTION  57 

tean  in  its  magnitude,  and  fraught  with  tremendous  significance. 
I  believe  that  ours  is  a  noble  mission,  that  of  discussing  the  ways 
and  means  of  bettering  the  religious,  educational,  hygienic,  eco- 
nomic, and  civic  condition  of  an  inferior  race.  I  believe  that  by 
protesting  against  the  miscegenation  of  the  races  we  can  recognize 
the  sacredness  of  the  individual  white  and  the  individual  Negro 
and  do  much  to  preserve  that  racial  integrity  recently  jeopardized 
by  the  Johnson-Cameron  missaliance.  I  believe  that  by  preaching 
the  gospel  of  industrial  education  to  the  whites  and  Negroes  alike 
we  can  develop  a  stronger  consciousness  of  social  responsibility.  I 
believe  that  by  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  in  the  Negro  are  to 
be  found  the  essential  elements  of  human  nature,  capable  of  con- 
scious evolution  through  education  and  economic  and  religious  bet- 
terment, we  will  be  led  at  last  to  a  conception  of  a  world  of  unity, 
whose  Author  and  Finisher  is  God. 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  FREEDOM:  CONDITIONS  IN  THE  SEA 
COAST  REGIONS 

BY  NIELS  CHRISTENSEN, 
Editor  and  Proprietor,  The  Beaufort  Gazette,  Beaufort,  S.  C. 

The  story  of  the  Sea  Island  Negroes  in  Beaufort  County,  S.  C., 
is  one  of  peculiar  interest.  Here  to  an  unusual  extent  they  pre- 
dominate in  numbers,  and,  in  a  greater  measure  than  is  usual  else- 
where, are  land  owners.  Their  inherent  tendencies  have  controlled 
them  to  a  maximum  degree. 

For  the  most  part,  the  rural  Negro  of  the  South  is  massed  along 
the  alluvial  lands  of  the  coasts  and  the  great  rivers.  As  Dr.  Carl 
Kelsey  has  pointed  out  in  his  admirable  study  The  Negro  Farmer, 
the  tendency  is  to  segregate.  It  therefore  becomes  important  to 
determine  the  rate  of  the  progress  of  the  race  where  there  is  the 
minimum  of  influence  from  his  white  neighbors. 

The  progress  of  any  people  will  be  greatest  by  those  groups 
which  are  in  closest  contact  with  civilizing  influences.  Industrial 
conditions  and  the  influence  of  the  white  race  are  perhaps  the  strong- 
est forces  molding  the  Negro.  On  the  rich  land  of  the  sea  coast 
region,  and  on  the  alluvial  lands  of  the  rivers,  industrial  conditions 
are  favorable  in  that  there  is  no  limit  to  the  progress  the  individual 
farmer  can  make,  no  one  to  say  him  nay,  a  world-wide  market,  a 
congenial  occupation.  But  here  there  is  little  contact  with  the 
white.  Where,  as  a  tenant  farmer  of  the  white  land-owner,  or  as 
a  customer  of  the  white  store-keeper,  he  has  the  urging  of  his  task- 
master behind  him,  or  as  an  independent  farmer  and  land  owner, 
he  has  the  example  of  a  white  neighbor,  the  Negro  responds.  Where 
he  is  left  to  himself  he  drags. 

The  extent  of  his  progress  under  the  last  named  conditions, 
this  article  will  in  a  measure  set  forth  in  a  study  of  local  conditions 
in  one  county,  from  which  general  tendencies  may  be  deduced. 


58 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  FREEDOM  59 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  POPULATION 

In  1860  old  Beaufort  District  had  a  population  of  6,715  whites 
and  33,339  blacks.  In  1870  Hampton  and  Beaufort  Counties  were 
formed  from  Beaufort  District.  The  last  census  for  these  two  coun- 
ties shows  12,969  whites  and  42,496  Negroes.  While  the  whites 
have  gained  93  per  cent,  the  increase  of  the  Negroes  has  been  27^ 
per  cent. 

In  1910  there  were  only  eight  counties  in  the  country  with  a 
larger  proportion  of  Negroes  than  Beaufort  County,  the  percentage 
being  86.9  per  cent  Negro  and  13.1  per  cent  white.  Ten  years  ago 
it  was  90^  per  cent  black.  The  last  census  shows  that  the  Negroes 
have  decreased  18  per  cent  since  1900  in  Beaufort  County,  the  sea 
coast  half  of  the  territory  of  Beaufort  District,  while  the  whites 
have  increased  18.3  per  cent. 

This  Negro  population  of  26,376  includes  only  1,230  mulattoes, 
or  4.6  per  cent  as  against  16  per  cent  for  the  state  at  large,  and 
20.9  per  cent  for  the  country. 

The  total  population  of  the  county  (30,167)  is  distributed  over 
its  920  square  miles  at  an  average  of  33  to  the  mile. 

Summarizing,  we  might  say  that  in  this  rather  thinly  settled 
district,  largely  occupied  by  pure  blooded  Negroes,  the  race  is  dimin- 
ishing by  reason  of  emigration  to  the  cities  and  the  saw  mills  and 
turpentine  camps,  where  there  is  a  demand  for  unskilled  labor. 

MORALITY 

Criminal  records 

An  examination  of  the  records  of  the  criminal  courts  cannot 
go  back  of  1879  as  the  dockets  before  that  date  are  missing.  I 
have  therefore,  compared  the  records  for  the  years  1879,  1880  and 
1881  with  those  of  1910,  1911  and  1912.  The  first  records  do  not 
designate  white  and  black  law-breakers  and  the  figures  are  totals. 
However,  a  careful  examination  of  the  names  indicates  very  few,  if 
any,  whites  brought  to  trial.  The  records  for  the  latter  period  are 
for  Negroes  only.  There  were  only  four  or  five  whites  tried  during 
this  last  period.  The  total  number  of  cases  brought  to  trial  and 
the  total  convictions  for  the  two  periods  are  given.  The  first  period 
shows  164  cases,  and  61  convictions,  and  the  latter  shows  65  cases 
and  49  convictions. 


60  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

In  the  first  instance  only  37.2  per  cent  of  those  tried  were  con- 
victed, and  in  the  second  75.3  per  cent.  This  condition  may  be 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  in  the  earlier  period  the  county 
machinery  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  Negroes,  and  the  percentage 
of  Negroes  on  the  juries  was  considerable.  White  juries  are  not 
so  lenient. 

The  record  may  be  classified  as  follows: 


1879-1881 

1910-1912 

Crimes  against  the  person  

62 

27 

Crimes  against  property  

78 

31 

Other  crimes  

24 

7 

Total  

164 

65 

Of  the  62  cases,  11  were  for  murder,  13  for  assault  and  battery,  17 
assault  with  intent  to  kill,  12  riot  and  assault,  8  assault  with  intent  to 
rape.  The  latter  two  crimes  do  not  appear  at  all  among  the  cases  of 
1910-1912.  The  intent  to  rape  were  committed  against  their  own 
race,  while  the  riots  were  disturbances  among  church  congregations. 
There  has  been  no  attempt  by  a  Negro  to  commit  rape  upon  a  white 
woman,  except  in  one  instance  where  both  parties  were  non-residents 
and  in  the  county  for  only  a  few  hours  at  a  railroad  junction. 

Of  the  78  cases,  18  were  for  grand  larceny,  24  for  petit  larceny, 
21  for  house-breaking,  6  for  trespass,  5  for  breach  of  trust. 

In  a  population  of  more  than  26,000  Negroes  only  one  quarter 
of  1  per  cent  are  indicted  each  year  in  the  circuit  court. 

Most  of  the  crimes  of  violence  may  be  traced  to  whiskey  as  an 
aggravating  factor. 

The  Church  Records 

The  amount  of  support  given  his  church  may  not  be  a  certain 
indication  of  the  Negro's  advance  in  morality,  but  it  certainly  is 
worth  consideration. 

Freedom  found  him  with  a  considerable  church  membership, 
and  he  fell  heir  to  some  church  property  which  had  belonged  to 
his  masters,  But  the  records  which  show  the  financial  condition 
of  the  several  congregations  for  this  county  indicate  pretty  accurately 
his  accumulations  since  slavery. 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  FREEDOM  61 

In  the  "low  country"  the  Baptist  church  has  the  largest  fol- 
lowing. The  Methodist  comes  next  in  importance,  and  there  are 
enough  Presbyterians  in  the  town  of  Beaufort  to  own  a  church.  Of 
other  denominations  there  is  little  heard  among  the  Negroes  here. 

From  the  church  organizations  of  Beaufort  County  statements 
have  been  secured  for  the  purpose  of  this  review  and  compilation 
made.  This  recapitulation  is  not  accurate,  but  is  approximately 
correct. 

We  find  68  churches,  with  10,339  members,  cared  for  by  38 
pastors.  The  church  property  is  valued  at  $91,625  and  the  annual 
funds  collected  for  all  church  purposes  are  $17,967.19. 

The  average,  then,  would  be  a  church  of  152  members  served 
by  a  pastor  giving  a  little  over  half  his  time  to  this  particular  charge. 
The  property  would  be  worth  $1,494  and  the  annual  contribution 
$264. 

Viewing  it  from  another  angle,  we  see  that  there  is  a  church 
member  for  every  2.55  of  the  total  Negro  population  of  26,376,  and 
that  the  annual  subscription  amounts  to  68  cents  for  each  one  of  the 
said  total  population  of  the  county. 

Reviewing  these  figures  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  percentage 
of  criminals  is  small  and  diminishing,  and  that  the  church  is  well 
supported.  It  may  be  added  that  the  leading  ministers  are  usually 
men  of  force,  character  and  education  and  that  the  influence  of  the 
church  is  far  greater  than  that  of  the  public  school.  The  minister 
is  the  natural  leader.  The  standard  of  sexual  morality  in  the  rural 
districts  is  low,  and  while  drunkenness  is  not  at  all  common,  the 
"county  dispensaries"  sell  annually  $150,000  worth  of  whiskey,  most 
of  which  is  bought  by  Negroes. 

LITERACY 

The  school  attendance  for  the  Negro  for  Beaufort  County  be- 
tween the  ages  of  six  and  fourteen  is  49.4  per  cent,  as  against  56 
per  cent  for  South  Carolina  and  59.7  per  cent  for  the  country  at 
large. 

Of  the  race  ten  years  of  age  and  over  in  this  county,  43  per 
cent  are  illiterate,  with  which  we  may  compare  38.7  per  cent  for  the 
state  and  30.4  per  cent  for  the  country.  But  the  rate  of  decrease 
in  illiteracy  in  Beaufort  County  between  1900  and  1910  was  29.68 


62  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

per  cent,  while  that  for  the  country  was  31.6  per  cent  and  for  the 
state  26.7  per  cent. 

This  county  has  an  unusually  large  revenue  for  school  purposes, 
derived  in  considerable  measure  from  profits  of  the  liquor  business 
which  it  manages  as  a  monopoly.  The  amount  of  expenditure  per 
black  pupil  is  $3.08  per  annum  as  against  $1.98  for  the  state  at  large; 
the  average  salary  per  colored  teacher  is  $148.96,  and  for  the  state 
$113.72.  The  county  school  session  is  16.1  weeks,  and  the  state's 
13.8.  Moreover  there  are  now  three  private  schools  maintained  prin- 
cipally by  Northern  contributors,  and  in  the  past  decades  there  were 
more.  In  the  county  there  are  on  an  average,  56  pupils  to  each 
teacher,  and  64  in  the  state.  The  average  number  of  pupils  in  each 
school  is  56,  and  in  the  state  64.  The  excess  in  number  of  illiterates, 
therefore,  is  not  due  to  lack  of  opportunity. 

Need  of  the  stimulus  of  white  example  shows  itself  particularly 
in  the  conditions  as  to  illiteracy.  With  greater  educational  oppor- 
tunities the  coast  Negroes  have  accomplished  less  in  fifty  years  than 
their  race  in  the  up-state  counties,  though  the  response  in  the  last 
decade  has  been  marked,  and  greater  than  in  the  state  at  large. 

INDUSTRY 

The  economic  advance  of  the  Negro  during  his  fifty  years  of 
freedom  may  be  best  determined  by  discovering  what  he  possesses 
today.  It  would  be  difficult  to  fix,  even  approximately,  the  value 
of  his  annual  earnings  in  this  one  county.  He  came  out  of  freedom 
without  property  and  with  this  as  a  starting  point  we  may  discover 
certain  facts. 

An  attempt  has  been  made,  however,  to  compare  the  cotton 
crop  of  1860  with  that  of  the  present  day  in  this  section,  but  with- 
out very  satisfactory  results  as  to  accuracy.  The  census  shows  that 
where  the  old  Beaufort  District  raised  190.95  pounds  per  inhabitant, 
the  same  territory  in  the  last  four  years  raised  an  average  of  260.47 
pounds.  In  Beaufort  County,  where  a  large  part  of  the  crop  is 
raised  by  Negroes,  the  crop  for  the  last  named  period  averaged  162 
pounds. 

It  is  generally  held  among  the  merchants  who  "carry"  these 
Negro  farmers  that  they  are  not  maintaining  the  grade  of  their  long 
staple  cotton  nor  making  as  large  yields  as  formerly.  This  may  in 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  FREEDOM 


63 


part  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  prices  for  the  staple  have 
not  increased  in  proportion  to  the  cost  of  living.  The  stagnation 
in  the  market  of  their  principal  crop  results  hi  the  dwindling  popu- 
lation noted. 

The  falling  off  in  cotton  raising  is  also  attributed  to  the  fast 
disappearing  number  of  slavery-trained  Negroes.  No  universal  in- 
dustrial training  has  been  substituted  for  the  new  generation.  The 
industrial  schools  are  not  numerous  enough  to  have  marked  effect 
on  large  areas,  and  only  in  the  past  decade  have  they  been  indus- 
trial in  more  than  name. 

A  cash-paying  Negro  farmer  is  an  exception.  Twelve  months' 
credit  is  the  rule,  and  a  natural  result  of  a  one-crop  system. 

TAX   BOOK    FIGURES 

A  study  of  the  present  property  holdings  of  the  Negroes  in  the 
four  blackest  townships  of  the  county  may  be  interesting.  They 
have  a  population  of  21,910,  including  the  3,000  credited  to  the 
towns  of  Port  Royal  and  Beaufort.  Outside  of  these  towns  the  white 
population  is  negligible;  in  one  township  with  over  7,000  Negroes, 
there  are  not  100  whites.  The  figures  for  real  and  personal  property 
are  taken  from  the  books  of  the  county  auditor.  As  whites  and 
blacks  are  not  designated  on  these  records,  it  was  necessary  to 
secure  the  assistance  of  the  present  auditor  and  of  one  who  served 

FOUR  TOWNSHIPS 


1876 

1912 

White 

Negro 

Total 

White 

Negro 

Total 

No.  of  taxpayers  
No.  of  buildings 

341 
501 

2,937 
406 

3,278 
907 

662 
1,116 

7,024 
2,663 

7,686 
3,779 

No.  of  acres  

98,369$ 

62.195^ 

160,565 

134,384 

50,913 

185,297 

No.  of  town  lots  
Average  acre  per  tax- 
oaver.  . 

129 

2884 

367 
259 

496 

1,573 
200 

885 
7 

2,458 

Value  personalty  
Value  realty  

$237,609 
$608,120 

$250,402 
$361,253 

$488,011 
$969,373 

$407,590 
$948,250 

$274,735 
$643,400 

$682,125 
$1,591,650 

Total  value  

$845,729 

$611,655 

$1,457,384 

$1,355,840 

$918,135 

$2,273,775 

64  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

many  years  ago.  These  gentlemen  indicated  the  white  tax  payers 
on  the  books  and  on  this  data  the  following  study  is  based.  The 
statement  of  the  bank  holdings  is  estimated  by  the  bank  authorities, 
and  the  church  property  is  given  from  figures  supplied  by  the  church 
organizations  before  referred  to. 

The  figures  for  1876  and  1912  were  taken  to  show  the  relative 
progress. 

In  the  late  sixties  between  20,000  and  25,000  acres  were  sold 
to  the  Negroes  of  two  of  these  townships  for  a  nominal  price  by  the 
federal  direct  tax  commissioners.  The  latter  acquisitions  have  been 
on  the  open  market. 

1.  Previous  to  1876  the  county  and  state  governments  were  in 
the  hands  of  Negroes  and  exploiters  and  were  much  demoralized. 
In  the  years  since,  the  acres  returned  in  the  given  townships  have 
been  steadily  increased. 

2.  Thirty-six  years  ago  the  Negro  holdings  were  in  the  hands 
of  heads  of  families  that  have  since  been  divided  among  heirs.     Hence 
the  decrease  in  the  size  of  per  capita  holdings. 

3.  The  realty  is  returned  for  assessment  at  about  one-third  its 
value  and  the  personalty  at  about  60  per  cent. 

It  will  be  seen  that  though  the  number  of  buildings  returned 
by  the  blacks  has  increased  over  sixfold,  and  though  more  than 
double  the  number  of  individuals  are  paying  taxes  on  an  assessed 
value  50  per  cent  greater  than  in  1876,  yet  the  land  returned  has 
diminished.  Over  11, 000 -acres  have  slipped  away  in  thirty-six  years. 
At  the  same  time  they  have  increased  their  ownership  of  town  lots 
from  367  to  885. 

PRESENT  HOLDINGS 

Realty  (market  value) $1,930,200 

Personalty  (market  value) 384,629 

Savings  in  banks 40,000 

Church  property 83,125 


Total $2,437,954 

The  per  capita  worth  of  each  Negro  enumerated  in  these  town- 
ships in  the  last  census,  would  be  over  $120. 

It  is  significant  that  of  the  total  realty  and  personalty  ($2,314,- 
829),  more  than  one  half,  or  $1,434,321.80,  was  secured  in  the  first 
ten  years  of  freedom. 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  FREEDOM  65 

PERSONAL  APPEARANCE 

The  steady  improvement  in  dress  and  hygiene  is  noticeable. 
In  this  part  of  the  South  where  the  dividing  line  between  the  races 
in  matters  social  and  political  is  strongly  marked,  there  is  little 
friction.  The  Negro  brought  from  slavery  a  genuine  deference 
to  the  white  race,  that  showed  itself  in  "good  manners."  Today 
much  of  this  spirit  remains. 

THE    FUTURE 

The  inertia  of  the  race  where  left  to  itself,  impresses  those 
who  live  among  them  and  study  the  progress  of  this  people.  It 
is  often  remarked  that  the  sea  food  of  the  coast  makes  existence 
too  simple  a  matter.  The  temptation  is  to  "live  in  the  creek," 
where  the  fish,  crab,  oyster  and  terrapin  afford  an  abundance  of 
food  supply  and  the  source  of  a  small  money  revenue.  But  little 
fuel  or  clothing  is  necessary.  The  climate  affects  all  with  lassitude. 
Why  toil  and  slave  where  airs  are  balmy,  skies  clear,  all  nature 
languorous,  and  man's  necessities  few?  What  does  "freedom"  mean 
if  not  emancipation  from  arduous  labor?  One  sometimes  wonders 
that  there  is  any  advance. 

Yet  there  is  progress.  The  story  of  the  development  of  truck 
farming  is  one  of  patient  industry  rewarded  now  by  large  returns. 
Around  Norfolk,  Charleston  and  at  several  points  in  Florida  the 
success  of  market  gardeners  has  been  one  of  the  significant  industrial 
developments  of  the  coast  region  for  the  half  century.  In  Beaufort 
County  capital  has  been  accumulated,  icing,  transportation,  and 
other  marketing  facilities  built  up,  and  lands  developed  to  the  point 
where  the  truck  crop  is  as  important  as  the  cotton  crop.  Farmers 
have  netted  over  $1,000  an  acre  for  lettuce,  and  this  season  one 
potato  grower  has  twenty  times  that  amount  as  the  profit  of  his 
whole  crop.  The  advanced  methods,  with  accompanying  improved 
machinery,  introduced  by  these  men,  most  of  them  natives,  are 
making  over  agricultural  conditions. 

As  yet  the  Negro's  part  in  this  new  agricultural  life  is  princi- 
pally that  of  the  day  laborer.  A  considerable  number  are  raising 
truck  successfully  in  a  small  way,  but  it  takes  capital,  intelligence, 
and  experience  to  succeed,  and  no  great  increase  in  the  number  of 
Xegro  truck  farmers  are  looked  for  in  the  immediate  future.  Mean- 


66  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

while  he  is  learning  the  value  of  intensive  farming  which  the  rice 
and  cotton  fields  of  the  great  plantations  did  not  teach  him. 

The  enterprise  with  which  this  new  agricultural  life  is  infusing 
the  coast  regions  is  felt  in  all  occupations,  and,  as  skilled  artisan 
and  day  laborer,  the  Negro  is  part  of  most  of  them.  His  industrial 
life  is  inextricably  bound  up  with  the  industrial  life  of  this  terri- 
tory where  he  is  so  large  a  part  of  the  population.  Every  movement 
affects  him. 

No  man  can  foresee  the  direction  agricultural  development  here 
will  take.  Once  indigo  was  raised  and  exported  from  this  town 
in  locally  built  ships,  rice  came,  and  by  improving  the  grade  the 
name  of  Carolina  was  made  known  around  the  world.  A  fine  fiber 
of  cotton  established  the  reputation  of  the  Sea  Islands  in  every 
factory  where  the  best  cotton  goods  are  made.  Today  indigo  has 
disappeared,  rice  has  all  but  gone,  the  long  staple  cotton  business 
is  not  thriving,  but  the  wealth  of  the  great  eastern  cities  is  paying 
our  farmers  fancy  prices  for  lettuce  in  winter,  potatoes  in  the  spring 
and  other  vegetables  out  of  their  seasons. 

Other  unforeseen  economic  conditions  may  come  to  leaven  the 
mass.  Phosphate  mining  played  a  part  here  for  two  decades  and 
then  passed  on  to  Florida  and  other  sections,  and  the  oyster  can- 
neries of  this  and  the  gulf  coast  now  employ  Negro  gatherers  and 
shuckers.  Climatic  and  other  conditions  make  these  Sea  Islands 
an  ideal  winter  recreation  ground  for  the  nation,  and  the  future 
will  doubtless  see  them  so  used.  Plan  as  we  may,  theorize  with 
ever  so  much  seeming  wisdom,  in  the  fulness  of  time  some  great 
economic  change  comes,  sweeping  all  before  it,  forming  new  barriers, 
destroying  old  ones,  cutting  new  channels.  But  in  all  human  prob- 
ability the  possibilities  of  the  years  to  come  lie  in  agriculture,  and 
with  more  white  farmers  to  lead  in  the  development  of  these  lands, 
the  coast  regions  will  advance  with  rapid  strides. 

It  is  probable  that  long  before  the  vast  uncultivated  areas  of 
the  South  have  become  occupied,  the  Negro  will  have  firmly  estab- 
lished himself  in  all  the  black  districts,  as  he  has  here,  as  a  land 
owning  farmer.  Surrounded  by  an  ambitious,  progressive  and  en- 
lightened people,  his  rate  of  progress  will  be  accelerated. 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  DEBT  TO  THE  NEGRO 

BY  L.  H.  HAMMOND, 
Paine  College,  Augusta,  Ga. 

We  hear  the  phrase  with  increasing  frequency — "the  white 
man's  debt  to  the  Negro;"  but  there  is  no  debt  white  people  owe  to 
Negroes  on  the  ground  of  race.  As  a  descendant  of  slave-owners, 
a  long-time  friend  of  the  Negro,  and  a  lover  of  my  own  people, 
Southern  problems  are  for  me  both  an  inheritance  and  an  environ- 
ment; and  I  believe  both  the  North  and  the  South  have  obscured  and 
magnified  the  task  of  Negro  uplift  by  continually  talking  and  think- 
ing about  it  in  terms  of  race.  If  we  would  see  life  sanely,  we  must 
see  it  whole.  No  race  can  be  understood  when  regarded  as  a  de- 
tached, and  consequently  anomalous,  fragment,  cut  off  from  its  wide 
human  relations.  Races  are  human  first  and  racial  afterwards. 
Differences  go  deep,  and  abide;  but  likenesses  go  deeper  yet:  the 
most  radical  evolutionist  and  the  most  ultra-orthodox  Christian 
must  agree  on  that  point. 

There  are  just  two  things  in  the  so-called  Negro  problem  which 
are  really  questions  of  race.  One  of  them  is  the  desire  of  the  better 
classes  of  both  races  to  keep  whites  and  blacks  racially,  and  there- 
fore socially,  distinct.  This  is  expensive,  especially  in  the  matter 
of  separate  public  schools;  but  no  wise  man,  in  either  race,  objects 
to  that.  In  such  a  case,  however,  both  justice  and  statesmanship 
require  that  school  provision  be  made,  not  according  to  a  man's 
ability  to  support  the  schools  but  according  to  the  children's  needs. 
This  standard  is  far  from  being  attained  in  the  South,  or  in  many 
other  sections;  yet  our  best  men  see  its  wisdom,  and  we  do  move 
toward  it,  though  slowly  and  haltingly. 

The  other  purely  racial  ingredient  of  the  "Negro"  problem  is 
prejudice;  and  it  is  not  confined  to  either  race.  Yet  after  all,  though 
racial  and  local  in  its  manifestations,  as  race  prejudice  must  always 
be,  it  is  as  wide  as  humanity  and  as  old  as  time.  It  cannot  be 
charged  upon  the  South  alone,  nor  are  its  manifestations  in  the 
South,  in  any  respect,  peculiar  to  Southern  whites  or  Southern  blacks; 

67 


68  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

they  are  peculiar  to  that  stage  of  intellectual  and  moral  growth 
which  those  manifesting  the  prejudice  have  attained.  And,  know- 
ing this,  one  may  regard  it,  not  without  sorrow,  but  without  bitter- 
ness, and  with  hope.  It  is  a  stage  of  life,  and  it  will  pass. 

With  these  two  exceptions  all  that  we  white  Americans,  North 
and  South,  have  so  long  known  as  the  Negro  problem  is  not  Negro 
nor  racial,  but  human;  and  the  sooner  we  all  recognize  this  fact 
the  sooner  our  sectional  and  racial  prejudices  and  animosities  will 
give  place  to  mutual  sympathy  and  cooperation.  There  can  be,  in 
the  nature  of  things,  no  successful  sectional  appeal  between  North 
and  South,  nor  successful  racial  appeal  from  black  to  white,  or  vice 
versa;  a  successful  appeal  must  be  made  from  a  common  standing- 
ground,  and  that  we  find,  not  in  our  differences,  but  in  our  common 
humanity. 

Our  Negro  problem  is,  with  the  exceptions  noted,  our  fragment 
of  the  world-problem  of  the  privileged  and  the  unprivileged,  of  the 
strong  and  the  weak,  dwelling  side  by  side.  It  is  human,  and  eco- 
nomic. We  say,  here  in  the  South,  that  the  mass  of  the  Negroes 
are  thriftless  and  unreliable;  that  their  homes  are  a  menace  to  the 
health  of  the  community;  and  that  they  largely  furnish  our  supply 
of  criminals  and  paupers.  And  most  of  us  believe  that  all  this  is 
the  natural  result,  not  of  the  Negro's  economic  status,  but  of  the 
Negro's  being  Negro. 

There  is  truth  in  the  indictment;  yet  it  is  by  no  means  so  largely 
true  as  many  of  us  believe.  Take  a  single  instance:  the  census  of 
1910  shows  the  value  of  Negro-owned  farm  lands  in  the  South  to 
be  $272,922,238,  a  gain  of  over  150  per  cent  for  the  decade.  The 
same  decade  shows  a  decrease  in  Negro  illiteracy  from  48.1  per  cent 
in  1900  to  33.4  per  cent  in  1910.  These  figures  prove  that  the  race 
is  advancing  rapidly,  no  matter  how  much  ignorance,  incompetence 
and  criminality  remain  for  future  elimination.  They  also  prove, 
lynching  and  other  barbarities  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  that 
Southern  whites,  as  a  whole,  are  not  as  bad  neighbors  for  Southern 
blacks  as  some  of  our  Northern  brethren  fear. 

A  main  reason  for  disregarding,  in  our  estimates  of  Negro  life, 
the  extraordinary  progress  of  a  large  and  growing  section  of  the 
race,  and  for  our  fixing  our  attention  almost  entirely  upon  its  less 
desirable  members  is  that  the  latter  are  the  Negroes  most  prominent 
in  our  own  lives.  As  the  Negro  gains  in  culture,  in  efficiency,  in 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  DEBT  TO  THE  NEGRO  69 

his  struggle  for  a  competence,  he  withdraws  into  a  world  of  his 
own,  a  world  which  lies  all  about  us  white  folk,  yet  whose  existence 
we  rarely  suspect.  The  inefficients  of  the  race,  the  handicapped, 
the  unambitious,  the  physically  and  morally  degenerate — all  these 
remain  in  that  economic  morass  which  we  regard  as  purely  racial; 
and  from  them  we  draw  the  bulk  of  our  supply  of  unskilled  laborers 
and  servants.  From  this  class,  too,  we  fill  our  jails;  and  to  many 
of  us  it  is  all  the  class  there  is.  As  fast  as  a  man  rises  out  of  it  he 
disappears  from  our  field  of  vision. 

I  have  been  impressed  increasingly  by  these  facts  since  my 
husband  and  I  have  laid  aside  other  things  and  come  to  live  at  a 
school  for  the  higher  education  of  Negroes.  In  our  many  previous 
years  of  effort  to  aid  the  race  we  had  become  aware  of  this  with- 
drawn world,  of  course;  but  it  remained  remote,  intangible,  save  for 
brief,  bewildering  glimpses.  It  is  not  yet  an  open  world;  but  since 
we  have  taken  this  public  and  decisive  stand  of  sympathy  we  pass 
the  threshold,  and  come  upon  that  deeper  life  which  aspires  in  the 
breasts  of  those  who  carry  in  their  own  hearts  the  sorrows  and  bur- 
dens of  a  race.  One  must  be  struck  with  a  sense  of  the  sacrificial 
instinct  of  this  class.  It  is  with  Negroes  as  with  other  races:  under 
pressure  of  misfortune  or  of  calamity  a  race  or  a  nation,  like  an 
individual,  sinks  down  to  the  sources  of  life,  and  rises  to  wider 
vision;  brotherhood  becomes  real  to  them.  The  Negro  who  has 
risen  to  higher  intellectual  and  industrial  levels  and  who  does  not 
realize  his  debt  of  service  to  the  less  fortunate  of  his  race  is  rather 
the  exception  than  the  rule. 

But  the  mass  of  the  Negroes  are  still  in  the  economic  morass; 
and  we  of  the  South  do  not  yet  realize  that  conditions  such  as  it 
furnishes  produce  exactly  the  same  results  in  men  of  all  races,  the 
world  around.  In  a  population  racially  heterogeneous,  like  that  of 
Xew  York  or  Chicago,  or  in  one  racially  homogeneous  like  that  of 
London  or  Rome,  or  in  a  bi-racial  population  like  our  own,  the 
people  who  live  on  the  edge  of  want,  or  over  it,  furnish  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  world's  criminal  supply.  Insufficient  food,  housing 
conditions  incompatible  with  health  or  decency,  a  childhood  spent 
unprotected  in  the  streets — these  things  produce,  not  in  this  race 
or  that,  but  in  humanity,  certain  definite  results :  ill-nourished  bodies, 
vacant  and  vicious  minds,  a  craving  for  stimulants,  lack  of  energy, 
weak  wills,  unreliability  in  every  relation  of  life.  French  slums 


70  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

breed  French  folks  like  that,  Chinese  slums  breed  such  Chinamen, 
English  slums  Englishmen  of  the  same  kind,  and  Negro  slums  such 
Negroes. 

When  we  see  this,  approaching  our  "Negro"  problem  by  world- 
paths,  grasping  it  in  its  world-relations,  we  will  begin  to  do  what 
the  privileged  classes  are  learning  to  do  elsewhere — to  widen  the 
bounds  of  justice,  to  open  the  door  of  opportunity  for  all,  to  give 
our  slum-dwellers  a  living,  human  chance. 

It  is  not  for  a  moment  claimed  that  when  they  have  a  human 
chance  slum  dwellers  of  many  races  and  of  diverse  inheritances  will 
be  all  of  one  pattern.  It  is  only  in  the  depths  of  undevelopment 
that  differences  disappear.  In  the  lowest  forms  of  life  even  animal 
and  vegetable  seem  one;  but  as  life  develops  it  differentiates.  Slum- 
dwellers,  when  the  way  of  growth  is  opened  for  them,  come  true  to 
type,  and  will  render  each  their  own  racial  service  to  the  human 
brotherhood. 

Here  in  the  South,  as  elsewhere,  the  stability  of  civilization  is 
to  be  measured  by  the  condition  of  the  masses  of  our  working  people. 
Men  of  all  nations  have  been  prone  to  think  that  enduring  national 
strength  can  be  built  up  on  rottenness;  that  national  and  industrial 
life  can  be  broad-based  and  firm  though  it  rest  on  injustice  to  the 
poor  and  the  despised,  on  ignorance,  immorality,  inefficiency,  disease; 
that  the  great  huddled  mass  of  workers  can  be  safely  exploited  and 
then  ignored;  that  a  people  may  defy  the  fundamental  law  of  human 
life  and  prosper.  So,  from  the  beginning,  have  nations  fallen;  until, 
at  last,  men  began  to  learn.  In  the  old  world  and  in  the  new  we 
are  moving  slowly,  along  much-lauded  paths  of  science,  to  that 
ignored  simplicity  of  Jesus  Christ,  whose  word  of  human  brother- 
hood we  have  forgotten. 

Here  in  the  South  we  are  moving  too.  Some  of  our  best  are 
turning  to  serve  our  neediest.  In  Louisville,  Ky.,  is  a  man,  the 
son  of  an  Alabama  banker,  a  man  of  substance  and  family, 
who  is  conducting  settlement  work  for  Negroes,  serving  them  in 
the  same  ways  that  other  college-bred  men  and  women  serve  folk 
of  other  races  in  the  same  economic  class  elsewhere.  One  of  the 
International  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries,  a  Southern  man,  has  enrolled 
six  thousand  young  men  in  our  Southern  colleges  to  study  the 
white  man's  debt  to  the  Negro;  and  another  Southern  secretary  is 
following  up  the  work  by  organizing  these  young  men  for  social 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  DEBT  TO  THE  NEGRO  71 

service  among  Negroes.  The  Southern  University  Commission  on 
the  Negro,  an  outgrowth  of  the  first  Southern  Sociological  Congress, 
held  a  year  ago,  is  composed  of  men  both  young  and  old  from  every 
Southern  state  university,  who  are  agreed  as  to  the  duty  of  the 
favored  race  to  secure  justice  and  opportunity  for  the  backward 
one.  The  Woman's  Missionary  Council  of  the  Southern  Methodist 
Church,  an  organization  representing  over  two  hundred  thousand 
of  our  white  women,  recently  adopted  a  plan  for  cooperation  between 
their  own  local  societies,  some  four  thousand  in  number,  and  the 
better  class  of  Negroes,  for  the  uplift  of  the  poorer  classes,  locally, 
throughout  the  South.  Through  their  secretary  for  Negro  work 
efforts  in  this  direction  are  already  being  made  at  several  points. 
The  Southern  Baptists  have  still  more  recently  decided  to  open  a 
theological  seminary  for  Negro  preachers.  It  is  to  be  in  connection 
with  their  seminary  for  white  preachers,  and  the  same  man,  one  of 
their  most  honored  leaders,  is  to  be  the  head  of  both  institutions. 
The  Southern  Presbyterians  have  long  had  a  theological  seminary 
for  Negroes,  where  Southern  white  college  men  have  taught  their 
darker  brothers.  In  South  Carolina  white  members  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  both  men  and  women,  are  giving  their  personal  service  to 
the  Negroes.  The  Southern  Methodists  have  for  thirty  years  main- 
tained a  school  for  the  higher  education  of  the  race  where  college- 
bred  Southern  white  men  and  women  have  taught  from  the  begin- 
ning. The  Southern  Educational  Association  has  been  on  record 
for  several  years  as  favoring  the  teaching  of  Negro  normal  students 
by  Southern  whites;  and  the  work  of  a  man  like  the  Virginia  state 
superintendent  of  Negro  rural  schools  is  something  for  both  races 
to  be  thankful  for.  Southern  club  women,  too,  in  more  than  one 
state,  are  showing  both  by  word  and  deed  a  spirit  of  sympathy  with 
the  Negro  life  in  their  midst.  Among  the  many  encouraging  and 
inspiring  utterances  by  both  whites  and  blacks  at  the  recent  meet- 
ing of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress  in  Atlanta  no  single  speech 
summed  up  the  race  situation  as  did  that  of  a  young  Negro  on  the 
closing  night. 

"I  have  always  known,"  he  said,  "that  the  old  Southern  white 
man  understood  and  trusted  the  old  Negro,  and  that  the  old  Negro 
understood  and  trusted  the  old  Southern  white  man;  but  before  this 
congress  I  never  dreamed  that  the  young  Southern  white  man  and 
the  young  Negro  could  ever  understand  or  trust  one  another;  and 


72  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

now  I  know  they  can;  and  that  shoulder  to  shoulder,  each  in  his 
own  place,  they  can  work  out  together  the  good  of  their  common 
country." 

In  all  the  congress,  no  speech  won  from  the  white  people  heartier 
applause  than  this.  But  the  white  men  who  spoke,  college  profes- 
sors, lawyers,  business  men,  preachers,  had  their  audience  with  them 
also,  as  they  called  for  justice  and  brotherhood  and  service  in  the 
spirit  of  Christ. 

The  millennium  is  probably  far  to  seek;  but  vision  is  coming 
to  our  leaders — a  vision  of  human  oneness  under  all  racial  separate- 
ness,  of  human  service  fitted  to  human  need.  And  as  the  leaders 
are,  the  people  will  be.  When  even  one  man  sees  truth  its  ultimate 
triumph  is  always  assured.  Whatever  may  happen  in  between,  the 
final  issue  is  inevitable. 

The  educational  needs  of  the  Negroes  are  great.  The  mass  of 
them,  like  the  mass  of  every  race,  must  always  work  with  their 
hands,  doing  what  we  call  the  drudgery  of  life.  They  need  to  learn, 
as  we  all  do,  that  drudgery  is  not  in  work,  but  in  the  worker's  habit 
of  mind.  We  need,  not  merely  in  the  South,  but  in  America,  to 
approach  the  German  standard  in  regard  to  industrial  training  for 
the  rich  and  the  poor  of  all  races.  As  we  grow  more  rational  our- 
selves the  Negroes  will  catch  the  infection,  as  they  have  caught 
from  white  folk,  North  and  South,  an  irrational  scorn  of  "common" 
work.  Our  public  and  private  schools,  especially  our  normal  schools, 
for  both  races,  need  large  development  in  industrial  training.  We 
are  awaking  to  this  fact,  particularly  in  regard  to  our  white  schools; 
and  as  they  progress  along  broader  lines  progress  in  schools  for 
Negroes  will  be  easier. 

The  only  absolutely  untouched  need  of  the  Negro,  and  it  is  a 
need  most  fundamental,  most  disastrous  in  its  long  neglect,  is  the 
need  for  decent,  healthful  houses  for  the  poorer  classes.  We  are 
just  developing  a  social  consciousness  in  the  South,  and  it  is  natu- 
rally first  aroused  by  the  needs  of  the  poor  whites.  We  know  little, 
as  yet,  of  slum  populations  elsewhere,  and  we  think  of  the  Negro 
slum-dweller  as  a  separate  fragment  of  life,  unrelated,  a  law  unto 
himself,  creating  his  slum  as  a  spider  spins  his  web,  from  within. 
We  build  him  shacks  and  charge  heavy  rents,  as  landlords  of  this 
economic  class  do  the  world  around.  Cheap  as  the  shelter  furnished 
is,  it  deteriorates  so  rapidly,  through  neglect  and  misuse,  that  the 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  DEBT  TO  THE  NEGRO  73 

owners  of  such  property,  the  world  over,  declare  that  the  high  rentals 
are  necessary  to  save  them  from  actual  loss. 

We  need  an  experiment-station  in  Negro  housing  in  the  South. 
Fifty  thousand  dollars  would  buy  a  city  block  of  six  acres,  and  put 
on  four  of  them  eighty  well-lighted,  three-roomed  houses,  with  water 
and  a  toilet  in  each,  and  with  a  tiny  garden-spot.  Two  acres  would 
furnish  a  playground  for  the  children,  otherwise  doomed  to  ruin 
in  the  city  streets;  and  there  would  be  money  enough  left  to  put 
up  a  settlement  house  providing  for  a  kindergarten,  free  baths,  boys' 
clubs,  industrial  classes,  a  place  of  recreation  for  young  people  whose 
only  present  refuge  is  a  low  dance-hall  or  a  saloon.  At  two  dollars 
per  room  per  month,  the  price  paid  in  my  own  town  by  people  of 
this  class  for  houses  which  are  a  menace  to  the  whole  community, 
the  income  from  such  an  investment  would  pay  the  salary  of  a 
social  worker,  who  would  collect  the  rent  on  the  Octavia  Hill  plan, 
and  would  yet  yield  10  per  cent  gross  on  the  investment,  in  dollars 
and  cents.  In  character-building,  in  the  cutting  off  of  our  pauper 
and  criminal  supply,  in  convincing  our  white  people  that  the  slum 
breeds  the  Negro  we  find  in  the  slum,  the  return  on  the  investment 
would  be  incalculable. 

An  experiment  like  this,  worked  out  to  success  and  advertised 
through  the  South,  would  awaken  the  interest  and  win  the  approval 
of  very  many  Southern  business  men  who  deplore  the  Negro  slum 
but  see  no  hope  of  abolishing  it.  Money  would  be  invested  in  decent 
homes  for  this  class  as  soon  as  white  men  saw  it  could  be  done  with- 
out financial  loss.  Such  an  experiment  station  would  do  more  than 
any  other  one  thing  I  know  of  to  help  the  Negroes  who  most  need 
help;  but  the  money  for  this  initial  enterprise  will  have  to  come 
from  beyond  the  South,  where  these  methods  have  already  been 
successfully  tried.  That  it  will  come  I  firmly  believe.  When  things 
ought  to  be  done  they  get  done,  somehow;  and  this  fundamental 
need  is  to  be  met. 


NEGRO  CRIMINALITY  IN  THE  SOUTH 
BY  MONROE  N.  WORK, 

Tuakegee  Institute,  Tuskegee.  Ala. 

Prior  to  the  Civil  War  there  was  not,  in  the  South,  the  prob- 
lem of  Negro  crime  such  as  now  exists.  Although  at  that  time  each 
of  the  slave  states  had  elaborate  and  severe  laws  for  dealing  with 
Negro  criminals,  they  were,  in  proportion  to  the  total  number  of 
Negroes,  comparatively  few.  Immediately  following  emancipation, 
however,  their  numbers  increased.  This  was  inevitable;  for  many 
of  the  restraints  that  had  been  about  the  slaves  were  suddenly 
removed  and  much  of  the  machinery  for  state  and  local  government 
had  broken  down.  As  a  result  there  was  confusion  and  disorder. 
Many  of  the  slaves  left  the  plantations.  There  was  the  beginning 
of  the  migration  from  section  to  section  from  the  rural  districts  to 
the  cities  and  from  the  South  to  the  North.  Under  all  these  circum- 
stances it  was  not  surprising  that  there  should  be  an  increase  in 
Negro  crime.  The  wonder  is  that  there  was  not  more  confusion, 
disorder  and  rapine.  The  great  majority  of  the  freedmen  did  not 
attempt  to  be  lawless.  They  exercised  the  same  restraint  that  they 
had  exercised  during  the  four  years  that  their  masters  had  been 
away  on  the  field  of  battle.  But  to  some  of  the  newly  enfranchised, 
freedom  meant  the  license  to  do  what  they  pleased.  It  was  from 
this  class  that  the  majority  of  the  criminals  came. 

As  an  example  of  the  increase  in  the  number  of  Negro  criminals, 
we  will  take  the  state  of  Georgia.  In  1858,  there  were  confined  in 
the  Georgia  penitentiary  183  prisoners,  all  of  whom  were  appar- 
ently white.  Twelve  years  later,  in  1870,  there  were  393  prisoners 
in  this  penitentiary,  of  whom  59  were  white  and  334  colored. 

According  to  the  United  States  census,  the  total  number  of 
Negroes  confined  in  Southern  prisons  in  1870  was  6,031;  ten  years 
later,  the  number,  12,973,  had  more  than  doubled;  twenty  years 
later,  the  number,  19,244,  was  three  times  as  great;  thirty-four  years 
later,  however,  that  is  in  1904,  the  number  of  Negroes  confined  in 
Southern  prisons  was  18,550.  This  would  appear  to  indicate  that, 

74 


NEGRO  CRIMINALITY  IN  THE  SOUTH 


75 


so  far  as  prison  population  is  an  index,  Negro  criminality  in  the 
South  in  recent  years  has  not  increased.  It  is  probable  that  there 
is  some  decrease,  for  a  study  of  criminal  statistics  of  cities  North 
and  South,  indicates  that  between  1890  and  1904  Negro  criminality, 
which  up  to  this  time  had  seemed  to  be  steadily  increasing,  reached 
its  highest  point  and  began  to  decrease.  It  appears  that  the  de- 
crease began  about  1894-1895. 

The  number  of  prisoners  per  100,000  of  Negro  population  also 
appears  to  bear  out  this  conclusion.  It  also  shows  that  there  is  a 
much  higher  rate  of  crime  among  Negroes  in  the  North  than  in  the 
South.  This  is  to  a  large  extent  due  to  the  fact  that  seven-tenths 
of  the  Negroes  in  the  North,  as  against  one-tenth  in  the  South, 
live  in  cities  and  are  of  an  age  when  persons  have  the  greatest 
tendency  to  crime. 

In  the  following  table  the  number  of  Negro  prisoners  in  North- 
ern and  Southern  states  is  compared. 

NEGRO  PRISONERS 


Year 

Northern  States 

Southern  States 

1870 

2,025 

6,031 

1880 

3,774 

12,973 

1890 

5,635 

19,244 

1904 

7,527 

18,550 

PRISONERS  PER  100,000  OF  NEQRO  POPULATION 

1870 

372 

136 

1880 

515 

221 

1890 

773 

284 

1904 

765 

220 

It  is  significant  that  the  number  of  lynchings  reached  its  highest 
point  about  the  same  period  that  Negro  crime  reached  its  highest 
point.  From  1882  to  1892  the  number  of  persons  lynched  annually 
in  the  United  States  increased  from  114  to  255.  From  that  time  on 
the  number  decreased.  In  1912,  there  were  64  lynchings  hi  the  United 
States.  The  total  number  of  lynchings  during  the  thirty  years  from 
1882  to  1912  were  4,021.  Of  this  number,  1,231  were  whites  and 
2,790  were  Negroes.  The  average  per  year  for  Negroes  was  93,  for 
wkites,  41.  From  80  to  90  per  cent  of  the  lynchings  are  in  the 


76  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

South.  Less  than  one-fourth  of  the  lynchings  of  Negroes  is  due  to 
assaults  upon  women;  in  1912  only  one-fifth  was  for  this  cause. 
The  largest  per  cent  of  lynchings  is  for  murder  or  attempted 
murder.  Over  10  per  cent  is  for  minor  offenses. 

It  is  of  still  greater  interest  to  compare  the  commitments  for 
rape.  In  1904,  the  commitments  for  this  crime  per  100,000  of  the 
total  population  were:  all  whites,  0.6;  colored,  1.8;  Italians,  5.3; 
Mexicans,  4.8;  Austrians,  3.2;  Hungarians,  2.0;  French,  1.9;  Rus- 
sians, 1.9.  Of  those  committed  to  prison  for  major  offenses  in  1904 
the  per  cent  committed  for  rape  was,  for  colored,  1.9;  all  whites, 
2.3;  foreign  white,  2.6;  Irish,  1.3;  Germans,  1.8;  Poles,  2.1;  Mexicans, 
2.7;  Canadians,  3;  Russians,  3;  French,  3.1;  Austrians,  4.2;  Ital- 
ians, 4.4;  Hungarians,  4.7.  The  commitments  for  assaults  upon 
women  are  low  in  the  Southern  States.  In  the  south  Atlantic  divi- 
sion the  rate  per  100,000  of  the  population  in  1904,  was  0.5;  in  the 
south  central  division  it  was  0.7.  Some  would  suppose  that  the 
low  rate  of  commitments  for  rape  in  the  South  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  most  of  the  perpetrators  of  these  crimes  are  summarily 
lynched;  but  if,  however,  all  the  Negroes  who  were  lynched  for  rape 
in  the  South  were  included,  the  rate  for  colored  would  be  changed 
less  than  one-fourth  of  1  per  cent. 

The  report  of  the  immigration  commission  in  1911  on  Immigra- 
tion and  Crime  gives  the  following  concerning  the  per  cent  that  rape 
forms  of  all  offenses  by  Negroes  and  whites:  of  convictions  in  the 
New  York  City  court  of  general  sessions  for  nine  months  of  1908- 
1909,  Negro,  0.5;  foreign  white,  1.8;  native  white,  0.8.  Chicago  police 
arrests  from  1905-1908,  Negro,  0.34;  foreign  white,  0.35;  native  white, 
0.30;  of  alien  white  prisoners,  1908,  in  the  United  States,  2.9. 

Both  North  and  South  the  crime  rate  for  Negroes  is  much  higher 
than  it  is  for  whites.  In  1904  the  commitments  per  100,000,  in  the 
entire  country,  were,  for  whites,  187;  for  Negroes,  268.  In  the 
Southern  States,  Negro  crime  compared  with  white  is  in  the  ratio 
of  3$  to  1.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  interesting  to  find  that  the 
Negro  has  a  relatively  lower  crime  rate  than  several  of  the  emigrant 
races  who  are  now  coming  to  this  country.  The  following  table 
shows  the  commitments  to  prison,  in  1904,  per  1,000,  of  certain 
nationalities : 


NEGRO  CRIMINALITY  IN  THE  SOUTH 


77 


Nationality 

Number  In  United 
States  according 
to  census  1900 

Prison  commit- 
ments in  1904 

Commitments 
per  1,000  of  each 
nationality 

Mexicans  

103,410 

484 

4  7 

Italians  

484,207 

2  143 

4  4 

Austrians  

276,249 

1  006 

3  6 

French.  ...         

104,341 

358 

3  4 

Canadians  

1,181,255 

3,557 

3  0 

Russians  

424,096 

1,222 

2  8 

Poles  

383,510 

1  038 

2  7 

Negroes  

8,840,789 

23,698 

2  7 

As  a  result  of  emancipation  and  the  increase  in  Negro  crime, 
great  changes  were  brought  about  in  the  prison  systems  of  the  South. 
Before  the  war  the  states  of  the  South  operated  their  prisons  on 
state  account  and  they  were  generally  a  burden  on  the  states.  After 
the  close  of  the  war  the  states  found  themselves  with  an  increasing 
prison  population  and  no  resources  from  which  to  make  appropri- 
ations for  the  support  of  these  prisons.  Throughout  the  South  there 
was  great  demand  for  labor.  Inside  the  prisons  were  thousands  of 
able-bodied  Negroes.  Offers  were  made  to  the  states  by  those  need- 
ing labor  to  lease  these  prisoners,  and  so  it  was  discovered  that  what 
had  been  an  expense  could  be  converted  into  a  means  of  revenue 
and  furnish  a  source  from  which  the  depleted  state  treasuries  could 
be  replenished.  Thus  it  came  about  that  all  the  Southern  state 
prisons  were  either  by  the  military  governments  or  by  the  recon- 
struction governments,  put  upon  lease. 

The  introduction  of  the  convict  lease  system  into  the  prisons 
of  the  South,  thereby  enabling  the  convicts  to  become  a  source  of 
revenue,  caused  each  state  to  have  a  financial  interest  in  increasing 
the  number  of  convicts.  It  was  inevitable,  therefore,  that  many 
abuses  should  arise.  In  his  report  for  1870,  less  than  a  year  after 
the  Georgia  lease  had  been  effected,  the  principal  keeper  of  the 
penitentiary  complained  about  the  treatment  of  the  convicts  by 
the  lessees.  An  investigation  in  1875  of  the  Texas  system  revealed 
a  most  horrible  condition  of  affairs.  From  time  to  tune  in  other 
states  there  were  attacks  on  the  systems  and  legislative  investiga- 
tions. The  better  conscience  of  the  South  demanded  reform  in  the 
treatment  of  criminals  for  it  was  found  that  "the  convict  lease 
system  had  made  the  condition  of  the  convict  infinitely  worse  than 


78  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMEBICAN  ACADEMY 

was  possible  under  a  system  of  slavery  in  which  the  slave  belonged 
to  his  master  for  life."  In  recent  years  there  has  been  much  improve- 
ment in  the  condition  of  convicts  in  the  South.  Five  states,  Louisi- 
ana, Mississippi,  Georgia,  Oklahoma  and  Texas  have  abolished  the 
lease,  contract,  and  other  hiring  systems.  All  the  other  Southern 
states  still  sell  convict  labor  to  some  extent,  but  in  each  of  these 
strong  movements  are  on  foot  to  abolish  the  custom. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  and  as  a  part  of  the  reconstruction 
of  the  South  there  had  to  be  some  readjustment  of  court  procedure 
with  reference  to  Negroes.  Hitherto  they  had  been  dealt  with  as 
slaves  or  as  free  persons  of  color.  After  the  adoption  of  the  war 
amendments,  they  came  before  the  courts  as  full  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  From  now  on,  much  of  the  time,  in  many  sections, 
the  major  part  of  the  tune  of  the  criminal  courts  has  been  taken 
up  with  trying  cases  where  Negroes  were  concerned. 

Before  emancipation  the  Negro  had  noted  that  wherever  the 
law  had  been  invoked  with  reference  to  a  Negro  that  it  was  gen- 
erally to  punish  or  to  restrain.  Thus  he  came  to  view  the  law  as 
something  to  be  feared  and  evaded  but  not  necessarily  to  be  re- 
spected or  to  be  sought  as  a  means  of  protection.  Under  freedom 
the  Negro's  experience  with  the  law  was  much  the  same  as  it  had 
been  in  slavery.  He  found  that  the  courts  were  still  used  as  a  means 
of  punishment  and  restraint  and  that  generally  they  were  not  the 
place  to  seek  for  protection.  Another  cause  of  the  Negroes  regard- 
ing the  courts  unfavorably  was  the  stringent  laws  relating  to  labor 
contracts.  These  laws  imposed  severe  penalties  upon  the  laborer 
who  violated  his  contract  and  often  reduced  him  to  peonage.  The 
result  is  that  at  present  the  attitude  of  the  Negroes  toward  the  law 
is  that  many  still  associate  laws  with  slavery  and  look  upon  courts 
as  places  where  punishment  is  meted  out  rather  than  where  justice 
is  dispensed. 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  whether  the  Negroes  are  fairly 
tried  in  the  courts.  Judge  W.  H.  Thomas,  of  Montgomery,  Ala., 
after  an  experience  of  ten  years  as  a  trial  judge,  in  an  address  before 
the  Southern  Sociological  Congress,  at  Nashville,  in  1912,  said: 

My  observation  has  been  that  courts  try  the  Negro  fairly.  I  have  ob- 
served that  juries  have  not  hesitated  to  acquit  the  Negro  when  the  evidence 
showed  his  innocence.  Yet,  honesty  demands  that  I  say  that  justice  too 
often  miscarries  in  the  attempt  to  enforce  the  criminal  law  against  the  native 


NEGRO  CRIMINALITY  IN  THE  SOUTH  79 

white  man.  It  is  not  that  the  Negro  fails  to  get  justice  before  the  courts  in 
the  trial  of  the  specific  indictment  against  him,  but  too  often  it  is  that  the 
native  white  man  escapes  it.  It  must  be  poor  consolation  to  the  foreign- 
born,  the  Indian,  the  Negro  and  the  ignorant  generally  to  learn  that  the  law 
has  punished  only  the  guilty  of  their  class  or  race,  and  to  see  that  the  guilty 
of  the  class,  fortunate  by  reason  of  wealth,  learning  or  color,  are  not  so 
punished  for  like  crime.  There  must  be  a  full  realization  of  the  fact  that  if 
punishments  of  the  law  are  not  imposed  on  all  offenders  alike,  it  will  breed 
distrust  of  administration. 

Hon.  William  H.  Sanford,  also  of  Montgomery,  Ala.,  in  an 
address  before  the  same  congress  on  "Fundamental  Inequalities  of 
Administration  Of  Laws,"  further  illuminated  this  question.  He 
pointed  out  that  the  real  population  of  the  South  is  made  up  of  three 
distinctive  communities: 

First  where  the  population  is  composed  largely  of  Negroes,  sometimes  in 
the  ratio  of  as  many  as  ten  to  one.  Second,  where  the  population  is  largely 
white,  usually  at  a  ratio  of  about  two  to  one.  Third,  where  the  population 
is  almost  entirely  white. 

In  the  first  of  these,  in  the  administration  of  the  criminal  law,  the  Negro 
usually  gets  even  and  exacts  justice,  sometimes  tempered  with  mercy.  The 
average  white  man  who  serves  on  the  juries  in  these  counties, 'in  his  cooler 
moments  and  untouched  by  racial  influences,  is  a  believer  in  fair  play,  and 
for  the  most  part  is  the  descendant  of  the  men  who  builded  the  foundation 
of  our  states.  But  in  these  communities,  a  white  man  rarely,  if  ever,  gets  a 
fair  and  an  impartial  trial,  and,  if  indeed  he  is  indicted  by  a  grand  jury,  his 
conviction  or  acquittal  is  determined  more  upon  his  family  connections,  his 
business  standing  or  his  local  political  influence  than  upon  the  evidence  in 
the  case  as  applied  to  the  law. 

In  the  second  of  these  communities  the  law  is  more  nearly  enforced  as 
to  both  classes,  and  except  in  cases  where  the  rights  of  the  one  are  opposed 
to  those  of  the  other,  convictions  may  be  had,  and  indeed  are  often  had,  against 
the  members  of  both  races  for  offenses  of  the  more  serious  nature. 

In  the  third  of  these  communities  the  white  man  usually  gets  a  fair  trial 
and  is  usually  acquitted  or  convicted  according  to  the  evidence  under  the 
law,  while  the  Negro,  the  member  of  an  opposite  race,  has  scant  consideration 
before  a  jury  composed  entirely  of  white  men,  and  is  given  the  severest 
punishments  for  the  most  trivial  offenses. 

In  conclusion  what  are  some  of  the  principal  factors  of  Negro 
criminality  in  the  South?  The  convict  lease  system  has  already 
been  indicated  as  one  of  these  factors.  Another  factor  is  the  impos- 
ing of  severe  and  sometimes  unjust  sentences  for  misdemeanors, 
petty  offenses  and  for  vagrancy.  Still  another  factor  is  the  lack  of 


80  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

facilities  to  properly  care  for  Negro  juvenile  offenders.  Ignorance 
is,  by  some,  reckoned  as  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  Negro  crime. 
The  majority  of  the  serious  offenses,  such  as  homicide  and  rape, 
are  committed  by  the  ignorant.  It  appears  to  be  pretty  generally 
agreed  that  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  Negro  crime  in  the  South  is 
strong  drink.  Attention  was  called  to  this  fact  by  the  great  falling 
off  in  crime  in  those  sections  of  the  South  where  the  prohibition 
law  was  put  into  effect.  The  general  testimony  is  that  where  pro- 
hibition has  really  prohibited  the  Negro  from  securing  liquor,  the 
crime  rate  has  decreased;  where,  however,  the  prohibition  law  has 
not  prevented  the  Negro  from  securing  liquor,  there  has  been  no 
decrease  in  the  crime  rate,  but,  instead,  the  introduction  of  a  cheaper 
grade  of  liquor  peddled  about  in  the  city  and  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts, appears  to  have  tended  to  increase  crime. 

One  of  the  most  significant  and  hopeful  signs  for  the  satisfac- 
tory solution  of  the  race  problem  in  the  South  is  the  attitude  that 
is  being  taken  towards  Negro  crime.  The  Negroes  themselves  are 
trying  to  get  at  the  sources  of  crime  and  are  making  efforts  to  bring 
about  better  conditions.  In  some  sections  they  have  law  and  order 
leagues  working  in  cooperation  with  the  officers  of  the  law.  The 
white  people  are  also  giving  serious  consideration  to  Negro  crime. 
Its  sources,  causes  and  effects  upon  the  social  life  of  the  South  are 
being  studied.  Movements  are  on  foot  for  bettering  conditions. 
Under  the  leadership  of  the  late  ex-Governor  W.  J.  Northern,  of 
Georgia,  Christian  civic  leagues,  composed  of  colored  and  white 
persons,  were  organized  in  that  and  other  states  for  the  purpose  of 
putting  down  mob  violence.  The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  is 
taking  the  lead  for  the  abolition  of  the  convict  lease  and  contract 
systems  and  for  the  adoption,  in  the  South,  of  modern  principles  of 
prison  reform. 


THE  MOVEMENT  FOR  THE  BETTERMENT  OF  THE 
NEGRO  IN  PHILADELPHIA 

BY  JOHN  T.  EMLEN. 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Armstrong  Association  of  Philadelphia. 

Philadelphia  has  a  Negro  population  according  to  the  1910 
census  of  84,459.  Four  other  cities  in  the  United  States  have  larger 
Negro  populations:  Washington,  94,446;  New  York,  including 
Manhattan,  Bronx,  Queens,  Richmond  and  Brooklyn,  91,709;  New 
Orleans,  89,262;  and  Baltimore,  84,749.  No  other  cities  in  the 
tTnited  States  have  Negro  populations  at  all  approaching  these  in 
numbers. 

At  the  present  rate  of  increase,  New  York  will  probably  in  the 
next  ten  years  be  the  leading  Negro  city,  and  Philadelphia,  second. 
This  may  be  seen  by  the  fact  that  in  the  past  ten  years  New  York  in- 
creased about  31,000;  Philadelphia,  about  22,000;  Washington,  about 
12,000;  New  Orleans,  about  11,500;  and  Baltimore,  about  5,500. 

The  accompanying  maps  indicating  the  distribution  of  the  total 
population  and  of  the  Negro  population  by  wards  show  how  the 
Negroes  are  spread  over  the  city.  Map  A  on  page  82  shows  by 
wards  the  distribution  of  the  total  population  in  1910,  each  dot 
indicating  a  population  of  5,000  persons.  The  chief  business  section 
of  the  city  centers  about  Market  and  Chestnut  Streets,  and  between 
the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill  Rivers,  so  that  this  district  shows  less 
congestion  of  dwellings  than  those  immediately  surrounding  it  on 
both  sides.  In  the  surrounding  districts  or  wards,  the  population 
is  the  thickest,  but  it  is  fairly  evenly  distributed,  becoming,  how- 
ever, less  concentrated  in  the  outlying  and  suburban  wards.  Map 
B  on  page  83  shows  the  Negro  population  of  Philadelphia,  in  1890, 
each  dot  indicating  250  persons.  Map  C,  on  page  86  shows  simi- 
larly the  Negro  population  of  1910.  In  noting  the  map  of  1890,1 

1  These  maps  give  the  population  accurately  by  wards,  but  of  course  as 
they  do  not  show  the  relative  distribution  of  population  in  different  parts 
of  the  ward,  the  results  in  a  few  wards  are  a  trifle  misleading.  For  example, 
in  the  26th  and  36th  wards,  the  greater  part  of  the  Negro  population  is 
toward  the  northern  ends. 

81 


82 


THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 


MAP  A. — DISTRIBUTION  BY  WARDS  OF  POPULATION  OF  PHILADELPHIA,  BOTH 

WHITE  AND  NEGRO,  1910 
One  dot  to  every  5,000  population 


BETTERMENT  OF  NEGROES  IN  PHILADELPHIA 


83 


MAP  B.— DISTRIBUTION  BY  WARDS  OF  NEGRO  POPULATION  OF  PHILADELPHIA, 

1890 
One  dot  to  every  250  Negroes.     No  Tabulation  for  Wards  35,  36,  and  37 


84  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

one  sees  the  largest  concentration  of  the  Negro  population  in  the 
7th  ward,  and  the  next  largest  in  the  4th,  5th,  8th  and  30th,  which 
are  adjoining. 

In  1910,  the  Negro  population  has,  to  some  extent,  shifted  and 
spread.  In  the  central  5th  and  8th  wards,  it  is  very  much  smaller 
than  in  1890,  and,  while  the  7th  is  larger  by  about  2,700,  it  has  not 
increased  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in  some  other  parts  of  the 
city.  The  30th  ward,  to  the  southwest  of  the  7th,  has  increased 
over  five-fold,  and  further  to  the  south,  in  the  26th  and  36th  wards, 
and  to  the  west  hi  various  parts  of  West  Philadelphia,  and  to  the 
north  in  the  14th,  15th,  20th,  47th  and  32d,  and  in  Germantown, 
the  increase  has  been  very  great.  The  Negro  population,  therefore, 
has  a  very  large  concentrated  nucleus,  but  has  increasingly  spread 
in  large  numbers  over  two-thirds  of  the  city. 

In  studying  the  bettering  of  conditions  among  such  a  popula- 
tion, one  must  inquire  about  the  greatest  needs  and  the  practical 
opportunities  for  meeting  them.  There  should  be  sufficient  oppor- 
tunities for  religious  and  educational  instruction,  for  recreation,  for 
the  amelioration  and  improvement  of  social  and  of  economic  con- 
ditions, and  for  the  improvement  of  conditions  of  health  and  of 
housing. 

Scattered  through  the  wards  to  meet  the  religious  needs  of 
this  population  are  about  105  churches  of  about  12  different  denom- 
inations, mostly  Baptist,  or  of  some  form  of  Methodist  Episcopal. 
These  churches  are,  apart  from  their  function  as  centers  of  religious 
inspiration,  centers  for  social  entertainment  and  intercourse  to  a 
much  larger  extent  than  are  the  churches  of  the  white  people,  yet 
very  few  of  them  are  able  at  the  present  time  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  population  in  some  of  the  educational  and  recreational  ways  in 
which  social  centers  should  meet  them.  Accordingly,  social  centers 
in  various  sections  have  grown  up.  These  with  playgrounds  in  the 
city  are  indicated  in  Map  D  on  page  87. 

Two  playgrounds  are  available  for  the  thickly  populated  center 
of  the  7th  and  30th  wards — one  on  the  extreme  lower  edge  of  the 
colored  population  and  one  which  is  well  located  for  the  30th,  and 
the  upper  part  of  the  7th.  Unfortunately,  the  latter  will  probably 
soon  be  abolished  and  the  ground  used  for  other  purposes,  and  if 
no  other  ground  is  secured,  this  will  be  a  serious  loss  to  the  com- 
munity. A  ground  is  also  especially  needed  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  40th  and  27th  wards. 


BETTERMENT  OF  NEGROES  IN  PHILADELPHIA  85 

A  number  of  the  social  centers  are  at  the  present  time  doing 
very  good  work,  but  as  a  group  they  are  in  number  and  equipment 
very  inadequate  to  meet  the  present  needs.  The  things  that  are 
needed  throughout  the  city  to  make  the  proper  recreational  facilities 
are  playgrounds  and  the  increased  use  of  the  school  yards  and  build- 
ings. On  account  of  the  great  financial  difficulties  in  securing  suffi- 
cient money  for  social  centers,  adequate  provisions  can  usually  be 
made  only  at  the  schools.  It  will,  however,  be  of  no  special  value 
to  have  these  unless,  when  they  are  opened,  they  can  have  the 
proper  supervision.  The  use  of  such  facilities  with  good  sympa- 
thetic supervision  is  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of  the  colored  people 
at  the  present  tune.  The  Thomas  Durham  school  building,  in  the 
7th  ward,  is  becoming  an  increasingly  valuable  social  center  of  the 
kind  needed.  There  are  now,  as  may  be  seen  on  the  map,  a  number 
of  centers  in  the  central  section,  noteworthy  among  which  will  be 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  with  its  new  $100,000  building,  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
with  its  new  plant. 

Some  of  the  institutions  and  agencies  for  relief  and  for  social 
betterment  are  for  both  white  and  colored  and  some  for  colored 
only.  In  some  organizations  purporting  to  work  "without  distinc- 
tion of  color"  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  attention  for  a  colored  case. 
On  the  whole,  however,  in  most  lines  a  fair  proportion  of  colored 
cases  receive  attention.  Some  of  the  activities  and  opportunities 
of  such  institutions  and  agencies  may  be  briefly  summarized.  The 
day  nurseries  receiving  colored  children  are  fairly  adequate  for  the 
different  sections  where  there  are  large  colored  populations,  except 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  47th  and  20th  wards,  where  one  is  much 
needed.  Four  of  them  are  in  or  near  the  central  section  where  there 
is  the  largest  population,  one  in  West  Philadelphia,  and  one  hi 
Germantown.  Most  of  the  hospitals  receive  colored  cases  in  large 
numbers,  and  in  two  hospitals  courses  are  given  for  the  training  of 
colored  nurses.  Lying-in  charities  afford  shelter  and  protection.  One 
agency  meets  colored  immigrants  from  the  South  at  the  wharves, 
and  affords  them  needed  protection.  Dependent  children  are  pro- 
vided for  through  a  number  of  institutions  in  many  of  which  there 
is  cooperation,  the  cases  being  distributed  through  the  children's 
bureau.  Many  of  these  institutions  have  a  long  history  and  between 
them  furnish  quite  as  good  facilities  as  are  afforded  to  white  chil- 
dren. 


86 


THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 


MAP  C.— DISTRIBUTION  BY  WAKDS  OF  NEGRO  POPULATION  OF  PHILADELPHIA, 

1910 
One  dot  to  every  250  Negroes 


BETTERMENT  OF  NEGROES  IN  PHILADELPHIA 


87 


MAP  D — PLAYGROUNDS,  INCLUDING  PARKS  USED  AS  PLAYGROUNDS  AND  SOCIAL 

CENTERS,  AVAILABLE  TO  NEGROES,  1913 

©  Indicates  a  Social  Center 


88  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  municipal  charities2  says  that 
ten  institutions  care  for  both  white  and  colored,  with  a  capacity 
of  2,567,  and  ten  for  colored  children  only,  with  a  capacity  of  567. 
It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  send  more  children  to  these  institu- 
tions than  would  normally  be  sent,  because  of  the  extreme  difficult}' 
in  finding  proper  kinds  of  homes  in  the  country  near  Philadelphia 
in  which  to  place  them.  In  spite  of  thorough  and  continual  inves- 
tigation by  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  the  number  of  such  homes 
seems  to  be  very  small  in  proportion  to  the  need.  Provisions  addi- 
tional to  those  made  by  the  municipality  for  the  aged  and  infirm 
are  furnished  by  one  institution,  with  accommodations  for  140,  and 
by  one  small  home.  The  state  reformatories  are  for  both  white 
and  colored.  In  addition  to  the  facilities  by  the  municipality,  two 
private  institutions  for  the  blind,  two  for  the  deaf,  and  two  for  the 
feeble-minded  and  epileptic  admit  Negroes.  The  number  of  Negroes 
about  one  year  ago  in  these  institutions,  according  to  investigation, 
were,  respectively,  10,  21  and  31.  General  agencies  for  charity  organ- 
ization, children's  aid,  protection  of  children  from  cruelty,  etc.,  and 
other  agencies  of  outdoor  relief,  should  be  and  are  run  under  general 
organizations  for  both  races. 

Negroes  have  much  more  difficulty  in  securing  good  houses  in 
good  neighborhoods  than  members  of  the  other  races  have.  Various 
building  and  loan  associations  have  helped  them  much  to  overcome 
this  handicap.  Under  the  Housing  Commission  of  Philadelphia,  sev- 
eral committees  of  colored  people  have,  from  time  to  tune,  been 
organized  to  care  for  the  needs  of  their  own  communities,  but  very 
little  interest  has  been  shown  by  the  committees  and  not  much  has 
been  done.  Through  such  committees  the  colored  people  could, 
with  entire  protection  to  themselves,  rid  many  communities  of  filth, 
bad  drainage,  and  overcrowding,  and  could  much  improve  health 
conditions.  Most  of  the  agencies  for  the  improvement  of  health — 
namely,  hospitals  with  their  social  service  departments,  dispensaries, 
anti-tuberculosis  society,  etc. — give  their  interest  and  attention  to 
colored  and  white. 

Economic  opportunities  for  the  majority  of  Negroes  are  limited. 
They  can  work  in  but  few  trades,  though  one  may  find  in  census 
reports  'that  there  are  Negroes  in  almost  all  kinds  of  work  that  do 

3 Report  of  Sub-Committee  on  "Dependent  Children"   in  the  Report  of 
th  e  Committee  on  Municipal  Charities,  1913. 


BETTERMENT  OF  NEGROES  IN  PHILADELPHIA  89 

not  require  large  capital.  The  figures  in  such  reports  do  not  always 
reveal  real  conditions.  If  one  hundred  carpenters,  for  example,  are 
recorded,  so  many  of  these  are  unskilled  that  the  figures  do  not 
represent  real  conditions,  and  seem  to  show  a  larger  number  of  work- 
men in  this  occupation  than  actually  exists.  The  women  are  re- 
stricted chiefly  to  domestic  service,  and  though  this  restriction  is 
unfortunate  and  resented  by  them,  they  do  quite  as  well  economi- 
cally as  white  girls  of  similar  efficiency  and  training.  To  men, 
however,  the  restrictions  are  more  serious.  Unskilled  Negro  men 
through  faults  partly  their  own,  and  partly  those  of  the  other  race, 
are  limited  in  the  kinds  of  work  open  to  them,  and  the  Negro  boys 
are  restricted  in  the  kinds  to  which  through  skill  and  training  they 
may  rise. 

Vocational  training,  and  training  in  the  qualities  of  character 
necessary  to  success,  are  needed.  Ample  facilities  for  academic 
training  but  not  for  vocational  are  available.  Courses  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  are  open  to  those  desiring  to  enter.  Good 
courses  may  be  obtained  by  a  limited  number  in  private  institutions 
in  dressmaking,  sewing  and  cooking.  Several  private  schools  give 
trade  courses,  and  at  the  Philadelphia  Trade  School  several  courses 
are  open,  but  in  training  in  trade  and  business  courses  and  hi  the 
lines  of  work  in  which  the  majority  enter,  there  are  not,  and  can 
not  be,  sufficient  facilities  except  through  the  public  school  system. 
Public  schools  are  the  means  through  which,  not  only  the  educa- 
tional, but,  to  a  large  extent,  the  economic  needs  must  be  met. 

The  historical  development  of  the  agencies  and  institutions, 
some  of  them  dating  from  long  before  the  tune  of  emancipation, 
may  be  sketched  briefly.  As  early  as  1770,  a  school  house  was  built 
by  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends  for  the  education  of  the  colored 
people,  and  a  number  of  such  educational  institutions  were  estab- 
lished, from  time  to  time,  but  gradually  the  public  school  system 
has  come  to  fill  the  function  for  which  these  pioneers  planned.  Two 
institutions  for  dependent  colored  children,  started  in  1822  and  1855, 
are  still  existent  and  perform  an  important  work  for  dependent  chil- 
dren. In  more  recent  times  other  institutions  for  dependent  chil- 
dren have  been  established.  In  1864,  a  home  for  aged  and  infirm 
colored  persons  was  founded.  A  trade  school  started  in  1837  was, 
in  1902,  made  a  normal  school  for  academic  and  industrial  training 
of  Negro  teachers.  The  majority  of  these  institutions  founded  fifty 


90  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

years  ago,  or  more,  are  supported  by  endowment,  and  the  control 
of  the  management  is,  to  a  large  extent,  in  the  hands  of  members 
of  the  white  race.  Many  of  them  are  very  well  conducted  and  are 
an  invaluable  help  in  meeting  the  present  needs.  Most  of  the  organi- 
zations treating  chiefly  colored  cases,  however,  have  started  within 
the  past  twenty  years.  They  include  hospitals,  schools,  homes, 
social  centers,  etc.  In  some  of  these,  the  institutions  in  both  their 
work  and  oversight  are  carried  on  largely  by  colored  people.  Some 
are  supported  by  voluntary  contributions,  but  some  receive  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  their  support  from  state  appropriations. 

In  any  large  city  there  should  be  an  organization  to  work  in 
a  general  practical  way  for  the  interest  of  the  colored  people,  sup- 
plementing at  any  time  the  community  needs  which  are  not  being 
met  by  the  other  institutions.  This  the  Armstrong  Association  of 
Philadelphia  has  for  five  years  increasingly  endeavored  to  do  in 
Philadelphia. 

Several  general  activities  for  such  an  organization  are  obvious: 
(1)  A  bureau  of  record  of  various  institutions  both  within  and  out- 
side of  the  city,  to  help  the  various  agencies  in  the  treatment  of 
individual  cases.  (2)  An  occasional  investigation  in  a  field  in  which 
improvement  seems  possible.  (3)  Education  of  the  white  members 
of  the  community  to  make  them  feel  a  sympathy  with  and  respon- 
sibility to  the  other  race.  (4)  Education  of  the  colored  members 
of  the  community  to  make  them  feel  a  practical  interest  hi  the  prog- 
ress of  their  people.  (5)  Practical  work  in  fields  needing  tempora- 
rily special  attention. 

A  large  amount  of  data  relative  to  a  bureau  of  record  has  been 
obtained  and  a  bureau  partially  completed.  Three  careful  investi- 
gations have  been  made  and  printed.  Literature  is  sent  annually 
to  over  10,000  white  persons  in  Philadelphia.  Much  of  this  is  merely 
in  circular  form  but  it  gains  the  attention  of  many  who  otherwise 
would  not  hear  of  the  Negro  problem  from  a  sympathetic  point  of 
view.  In  this,  of  course,  work  somewhat  similar  is  done  by  others. 
Lectures  have  been  held  in  schools  and  churches.  Recently  the 
meetings  at  which  these  lectures  have  been  held  have  been  well 
attended.  At  each  of  the  recent  meetings  an  expert  has  given  an 
address  on  a  special  phase  of  social  work. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  the  Armstrong  Association  has  given 
a  great  deal  of  attention  and  effort  to  two  subjects  of  especial  impor- 


BETTERMENT  OF  NEGROES  IN  PHILADELPHIA  91 

tance  at  the  present  time:  First,  the  economic  situation,  which  a 
worker  of  the  charity  organization  reports  is  the  greatest  handicap 
of  the  colored  people;  second,  the  public  schools  as  an  agency  for 
help. 

To  aid  in  solving  the  difficulty  of  the  economic  situation,  the 
Armstrong  Association  established  an  office  with  a  department  for 
employment  which  has  grown  steadily.  The  chief  purpose  of  the 
employment  work  is:  (1)  To  help  skilled  Negroes  to  get  work,  and 
(2)  to  help  Negroes  into  new  kinds  of  work.  During  the  past  year 
it  has  helped  in  securing  five  hundred  jobs  and  placements  for 
colored  men  and  women.  These  placements  were  made  through  the 
office  at  which  opportunities  were  looked  up,  references  secured,  and 
often  investigations  made  of  how  the  work  was  done.  This  five 
hundred  does  not,  however,  represent  the  actual  number  assisted, 
because  a  number  of  men  who  were  helped  to  get  work  several  years 
ago,  have  since  then  dealt  directly  with  their  customers  without  the 
necessity  of  using  the  Armstrong  Association  as  an  intermediary, 
and  have  consequently  each  year  obtained  positions  which  are  not 
credited  to  us.  Our  purpose  among  mechanics  has  been  to  increase 
the  number  of  workers  and  to  help  those  who  are  already  working. 
Three  associations  among  the  mechanics  were  formed,  covering  dif- 
ferent branches,  and  two  others  have  affiliated  with  us,  namely — 
the  stationary  engineers  and  the  portable  engineers.  Among  the 
stationary  engineers  there  has  been  considerable  appreciation  of  the 
importance  of  continued  organization,  but  among  the  others  the 
advantages  of  mutual  cooperation  do  not  seem  to  be  yet  appre- 
ciated. Mechanics  have  been  helped  by  us  in  the  drawing  of  con- 
tracts and  specifications  and,  sometimes,  in  their  accounts,  with  the 
result  that  one  man  increased  his  work  from  a  very  small  amount 
to  about  $7,000,  in  one  year,  and  in  the  next  year  to  about  $25,000. 
The  progress  of  the  men  has  been  handicapped  through  their  lack 
of  capital  and  through  their  inability  to  secure  loans  at  reasonable 
rates  of  interest.  But  such  loans  would  be  of  little  value  without 
training  on  their  part  in  being  able  to  handle  the  financial  side  of 
large  operations.  A  remedial  loan  association  would,  however,  be 
of  great  value  to  them.  The  association  was  instrumental  in  help- 
ing more  than  a  hundred  shirt  waist  workers  to  secure  places  in 
shirt  waist  factories.  Different  individuals  among  these  changed  so 
frequently  from  year  to  year  that  any  organization  among  them  to 


92  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

increase  their  numbers  and  efficiency  proved  to  be  impossible.  Over 
a  hundred  track  workers  for  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  were  found 
places,  and  thus  introduced  into  a  kind  of  work  which  was  new  to 
them  in  the  neighborhood  of  Philadelphia. 

The  association  is  planning  to  continue  to  increase  the  indus- 
trial possibilities  among  the  men  by  further  study  of  openings,  and 
by  following  up  individual  cases  to  see  in  each  case  whether  the 
difficulty  is  prejudice,  improper  supervision,  or  inefficiency,  and 
whether  this  difficulty  can  be  remedied. 

To  help  the  public  schools  experimentally,  the  Armstrong  Asso- 
ciation employs  a  trained  worker  in  two  important  school  centers, 
under  the  direction  of  the  principals.  The  worker  gives  her  whole 
time  to  the  two  schools  where  the  largest  number  of  colored  children 
attend.  Through  her  there  has  been  established  a  point  of  con- 
tact between  the  home  and  the  school,  and  by  visits  in  the  homes 
and  studies  of  the  needs  and  possibilities  of  each  individual  child, 
by  meetings  of  parents,  by  treatment  of  special  cases,  and  by  voca- 
tional guidance  the  parent  and  the  child  both  become  more  inter- 
ested in  the  school  and  the  child  is  helped.  A  social  center  is  prom- 
ised in  one  of  these  schools  which  already  has  an  evening  school, 
and  in  the  other  it  is  hoped  that  an  evening  school  will  soon  be 
established.  In  both  it  seems  as  if  progress  is  being  made  and  new 
possibilities  shown.  In  the  actual  handling  of  the  work,  Negro  social 
workers  are  usually  the  best,  and  they  will  be  of  increasing  impor- 
tance. Nothing  can  be  more  important  at  the  present  time  than 
the  thorough  training  and  guidance  of  such  workers,  who  with  proper 
oversight,  increasing  from  time  to  time,  will  make  their  work  more 
efficient.  Through  such  workers  there  should  be  an  improvement  in 
general  in  the  conditions  among  the  colored  people. 

The  work  just  outlined  of  an  organization  for  the  systematic 
study  and  betterment  of  conditions  of  Negroes  living  in  cities,  is 
comparatively  new,  starting  ^five  years  ago,  but  we  are  convinced 
that  it  has  done  good  and  that  such  work  has  possibilities  for  good. 
Similar  work  is  being  undertaken  in  New  York  and  several  other 
cities,  and  will  be  increasingly  recognized  as  an  important  part  of 
the  program  of  social  work  of  an  American  city. 


PROBLEMS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 

BY  RAY  STANNARD  BAKER, 
Amherst,  Mass. 

What  place  does  the  Negro  occupy  as  a  citizen  in  the  American 
democracy,  and  what  place  should  he  occupy? 

Up  to  the  present  time,  although  the  status  of  the  Negro  has 
presented  the  most  serious  single  group  of  problems  that  the  nation 
has  ever  had  to  meet,  his  influence  as  a  participant  in  the  rights 
and  responsibilities  of  government  has  been  almost  negligible.  He 
has  been  an  issue  but  not  an  actor  in  politics. 

In  the  antebellum  slavery  agitation  Negroes  played  no  conse- 
quential part;  they  were  an  inert  lump  of  humanity  possessing  no 
power  of  inner  direction;  the  leaders  on  both  sides  of  the  struggle 
that  centered  around  the  institution  of  slavery  were  white  men. 
The  Negroes  did  not  even  follow  poor  old  John  Brown.  After  the 
war  the  Negro  continued  to  be  an  issue  rather  than  a  partaker  in 
politics,  and  the  conflict  continued  to  be  between  groups  of  white 
men.  First,  the  solid  South  was  arrayed  against  the  Northern  re- 
constructionists,  and  afterwards  the  old  aristocratic  party  in  the 
South  engaged  in  a  long  struggle  with  a  rising  democratic  party 
which  included  the  poor  white  element,  up  to  that  time  politically 
unimportant.  Even  in  reconstruction  tunes,  and  I  am  not  forget- 
ting exceptional  Negroes  like  Bruce,  Revels,  Pinchback  and  others, 
the  Negro  was  a  partaker  in  government  solely  by  virtue  of  the 
power  of  the  North.  As  a  class  the  Negroes  were  not  self-directed, 
but  were  used  by  the  Northern  reconstructionists  and  certain  politi- 
cal Southerners,  who  took  most  of  the  offices  and  nearly  all  the 
pilferings. 

And  this  is  not  in  the  least  surprising.  Emerging  from  a  con- 
dition of  slavery  the  Negro  had  no  power  of  independent  action 
and  practically  no  leaders  who  knew  anything.  He  was  still  a  slave 
in  everything  except  name;  and  yet  he  was  asked  to  become  at 
once  a  governing  citizen.  Even  an  amendment  to  the  federal  con- 
stitution could  not  over  night  make  freemen  of  slaves;  for  citizen- 
ship is  bestowed  in  vain  upon  those  who  have  not,  in  some  measure, 
earned  it. 

93 


94  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

Half  a  century,  however,  has  wrought  profound  changes.  Be- 
ginning in  the  crude  freedmen's  schools,  and  inspired  later  by  the 
leadership  of  able  men,  both  white  and  colored,  the  Negro  has  made 
surprising  advances  in  fifty  years.  He  has  developed  a  real  self- 
consciousness,  he  has  his  own  body  of  opinion  expressed  in  his 
own  newspapers,  and  his  leadership  is  clearly  defined  and  vigorous. 
There  can  be  no  manner  of  doubt  of  the  remarkable  progress  of  this 
race  of  slaves  in  half  a  century;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  progress  will  continue.  Thousands  of  Negroes  today  have 
earned  citizenship. 

"I  believe  I  am  safe  in  saying,"  writes  Booker  T.  Washington, 
the  greatest  of  Negro  leaders,  "that  nowhere  are  there  10,000,000 
black  people  who  have  greater  opportunities  or  are  making  better 
progress  than  the  Negroes  in  America." 

In  making  these  assertions,  however,  I  do  not  wish  to  imply 
that  no  difficult  problems  remain  to  be  solved.  The  Negro  not  only 
continues  to  be  a  hair-trigger  issue  in  at  least  ten  states  of  the  Union, 
but  the  very  fact  that  so  many  are  now  prepared  for  citizenship 
and  are  pressing  forward  to  use  with  intelligence  the  rights  con- 
ferred upon  them  by  the  fifteenth  amendment,  gives  rise  to  new 
and  very  serious  problems.  The  status  of  the  Negro  in  the  democ- 
racy still  remains  unsettled.  Thousands  of  Americans  believe  earn- 
estly that  no  Negro,  no  matter  how  intelligent,  should  be  allowed 
to  share  in  the  government,  and  these  not  only  wish  to  throw  down 
the  legal  barrier  imposed  by  the  fifteenth  amendment,  but  do  their 
best  by  state  legislation,  or  by  artifice  at  the  primaries  or  at  elec- 
tions, to  nullify  the  legal  rights  of  the  Negro.  Other  thousands  of 
Americans  believe  that  all  Negroes,  like  all  white  men,  should  have 
the  full  rights  of  citizenship.  And  between  these  two  extremes  exists 
every  shade  of  opinion.  As  for  the  Negroes  themselves,  all  of  them, 
no  matter  what  diversities  of  opinion  there  may  be  among  them  as 
to  methods  of  progress,  are  pressing  steadily  forward  to  become 
real  participants  in  government;  and  in  Northern  cities  they  have 
already  become  an  element  decidedly  to  be  reckoned  with.  In 
certain  Northern  States  like  Ohio  and  Indiana  the  Negro  vote  is 
increasingly  important. 

In  order  to  answer  with  intelligence  the  question  proposed  at 
the  head  of  this  article  it  will  be  well  to  consider,  at  the  start,  some 
of  the  fundamental  aspects  of  citizenship,  as  symbolized  by  the 
right  to  vote. 


PROBLEMS  OP  CITIZENSHIP  95 

It  will  be  admitted  without  argument,  I  think,  that  all  govern- 
ments do  and  of  necessity  must  exercise  the  right  to  limit  the  number 
of  people  who  are  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  weighty  responsi- 
bilities of  the  suffrage.  Some  governments  allow  only  a  few  men 
to  vote;  in  an  absolute  monarchy  there  is  only  one  voter;  other 
governments  as  they  become  more  democratic,  permit  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  people  to  vote. 

Our  own  government  is  one  of  the  freest  in  the  world  in  the 
matter  of  suffrage;  and  yet  we  bar  out,  in  most  states,  all  women; 
we  bar  out  Mongolians,  no  matter  how  intelligent;  we  bar  out  Indians 
and  all  foreigners  who  have  not  passed  through  a  certain  probation- 
ary stage  and  have  not  acquired  a  certain  small  amount  of  education. 
We  also  declare — for  an  arbitrary  limit  must  be  placed  somewhere — 
that  no  person  under  twenty-one  years  may  exercise  the  right  to 
vote,  although  some  boys  of  eighteen  are  today  as  well  equipped  to 
pass  intelligently  upon  public  questions  as  many  grown  men.  We 
even  place  adult  white  men  on  probation  until  they  have  resided 
for  a  certain  length  of  time,  often  as  much  as  two  years,  in  the  state 
or  town  where  they  wish  to  cast  their  ballots.  Our  registration  and 
ballot  laws  eliminate  hundreds  of  thousands  of  voters,  and  finally 
we  bar  out  everywhere  the  defective  and  criminal  classes  of  our 
population.  We  do  not  realize,  sometimes,  I  think,  how  limited  the 
franchise  really  is,  even  in  America.  We  forget  that  out  of  over 
90,000,000  people  in  the  United  States  only  15,000,000  cast  their 
votes  for  President  in  1912 — or  about  one  in  every  six. 

Thus  the  practice  of  a  restricted  suffrage  is  very  deeply  implanted 
in  our  system  of  government.  It  is  everywhere  recognized  that  even 
in  a  democracy  lines  must  be  drawn,  and  that  the  ballot,  the  pre- 
cious instrument  of  the  government,  must  be  hedged  about  with 
stringent  regulations.  The  question  is,  where  shall  these  lines  be 
drawn  in  order  that  the  best  interests,  not  of  any  particular  class, 
but  of  the  whole  nation  shall  be  served. 

Upon  this  question  we,  as  free  citizens,  have  the  absolute  right 
to  agree  or  disagree  with  the  present  laws  concerning  suffrage;  and 
if  we  want  more  people  brought  in  as  partakers  of  the  government, 
or  some  people  who  are  already  in,  barred  out,  we  have  a  right  to 
organize,  to  agitate,  to  do  our  best  to  change  the  laws.  Powerful 
organizations  of  women  are  now  agitating  for  the  right  to  vote;  there 
is  an  organization  which  demands  the  suffrage  for  Chinese  and 


96  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

Japanese  who  wish  to  become  citizens.  It  is  even  conceivable  that 
a  society  might  be  founded  to  lower  the  age-limit  from  twenty-one 
to  nineteen  years,  thereby  endowing  a  large  number  of  young  men 
with  the  privileges,  and  therefore  the  educational  responsibilities,  of 
political  power.  On  the  other  hand,  many  people,  chiefly  in  our 
Southern  States,  earnestly  believe  that  the  right  of  the  Negro  to 
vote  should  be  curtailed,  or  even  abolished. 

Thus  we  disagree,  and  government  is  the  resultant  of  all  these 
diverse  views  and  forces.  No  one  can  say  dogmatically  how  far 
democracy  should  go  in  distributing  the  enormously  important  pow- 
ers of  active  government.  Democracy  is  not  a  dogma;  it  is  not 
even  a  dogma  of  free  suffrage.  Democracy  is  a  life,  a  spirit,  a 
growth.  The  primal  necessity  of  any  sort  of  government,  demo- 
cratic or  otherwise,  whether  it  be  more  unjust  or  less  unjust  toward 
special  groups  of  its  citizens,  is  to  exist,  to  be  a  going  concern,  to 
maintain  upon  the  whole  a  stable  administration  of  affairs.  If  a 
democracy  cannot  provide  such  stability,  then  the  people  go  back 
to  some  form  of  oligarchy.  Having  secured  a  fair  measure  of  sta- 
bility, a  democracy  proceeds  with  caution  toward  the  extension  of 
the  suffrage  to  more  and  more  people — trying  foreigners,  trying 
women,  trying  Negroes. 

And  no  one  can  prophesy  how  far  a  democracy  will  ultimately 
go  in  the  matter  of  suffrage.  We  know  only  the  tendency.  We 
know  that  in  the  beginning,  even  in  America,  the  right  to  vote  was 
a  very  limited  matter.  In  the  early  years  in  New  England,  only 
church  members  voted;  then  the  franchise  was  extended  to  include 
property-owners,  then  it  was  enlarged  to  include  all  white  male  adults 
(with  certain  restrictions),  then  to  include  Negroes,  then  in  several 
Western  States,  to  include  women. 

Thus  the  line  has  been  constantly  advancing,  but  with  many 
fluctuations,  eddies,  and  back-currents,  like  any  other  stream  of 
progress.  At  the  same  time  the  fundamental  principles  which  under- 
lie popular  government,  and  especially  the  whole  matter  of  popular 
suffrage,  are  much  in  the  public  mind.  The  tendency  of  govern- 
ment throughout  the  entire  civilized  world  is  strongly  in  the  direc- 
tion of  placing  more  and  more  power  in  the  hands  of  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  people. 

In  our  own  country  we  are  enacting  a  remarkable  group  of 
laws  providing  for  direct  primaries  in  the  nominations  of  public 


PROBLEMS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  97 

officials,  for  direct  election  of  United  States  senators  and  for  direct 
legislation  by  means  of  the  initiative  and  referendum,  and  we  are 
even  going  to  the  point  in  many  cities  and  states  of  permitting  the 
people  to  recall  an  elected  official  who  is  unsatisfactory.  The  princi- 
ple of  local  option,  which  is  nothing  but  that  of  direct  government 
by  the  people,  is  being  widely  accepted.  All  these  changes  affect, 
fundamentally,  the  historic  structure  of  our  government,  making  it 
less  representative  and  more  democratic. 

Still  more  important  and  far-reaching  in  its  significance  is  the 
tendency  of  our  government,  especially  our  cities  and  our  federal 
government,  to  regulate  or  to  appropriate  business  enterprises  for- 
merly left  wholly  in  private  hands.  More  and  more  private  business 
is  becoming  public  business. 

Now,  then,  as  the  weight  of  responsibility  upon  the  popular 
vote  is  increased,  it  becomes  more  and  more  important  that  the 
ballot  should  be  jealously  guarded  and  honestly  exercised.  In  the 
last  few  years,  therefore,  a  series  of  extraordinary  new  precautions 
have  been  adopted:  the  Australian  ballot,  more  stringent  registra- 
tion systems,  the  stricter  enforcement  of  naturalization  laws  to  pre- 
vent the  voting  of  crowds  of  unprepared  foreigners,  and  the  imposi- 
tion by  several  states,  rightly  or  wrongly,  of  educational  or  property 
tests.  It  becomes  a  more  and  more  serious  matter  every  year  to 
be  an  American  citizen,  more  of  an  honor,  more  of  a  duty. 

At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  hi  a  tune  of  intense  idealistic 
emotion,  some  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  Negroes,  the  mass  of 
them  densely  ignorant  and  just  out  of  slavery,  with  the  iron  of 
slavery  still  in  their  souls,  were  suddenly  given  the  political  rights 
of  free  citizens.  A  great  many  people,  and  not  in  the  South  alone, 
thought  then,  and  still  think,  that  it  was  a  mistake  to  bestow  the 
high  powers  and  privileges  of  a  wholly  unrestricted  ballot — a  ballot 
which  is  the  symbol  of  intelligent  self-government — upon  the  Negro. 
Other  people,  of  whom  I  am  one,  believe  that  it  was  an  unescapable 
concomitant  of  the  revolution;  it  was  itself  a  revolution,  not  a  growth, 
and  like  every  other  revolution  it  had  its  fearful  reaction.  Revolu- 
tions, indeed,  change  names  but  they  do  not  at  once  change  human 
relationships.  Mankind  is  reconstructed  not  by  proclamations,  or 
legislation,  or  military  occupation,  but  by  time,  growth,  religion, 
thought.  At  that  time,  then,  the  nation  drove  down  the  stakes  of 
its  idealism  in  government  far  beyond  the  point  which  it  was  able 


98  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

to  reach  in  the  humdrum  activities  of  everyday  existence.  A  reac- 
tion was  inevitable;  it  was  inevitable  and  perfectly  natural  that 
there  should  be  a  widespread  questioning  as  to  whether  all  Negroes, 
or  indeed  any  Negroes,  should  properly  be  admitted  to  full  political 
fellowship.  That  questioning  continues  to  this  day. 

Now,  the  essential  principle  established  by  this  fifteenth  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  was  not  that  all  Negroes  should  necessarily 
be  given  an  unrestricted  ballot;  but  that  the  right  to  vote  should 
not  be  denied  or  abridged  "on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude."  This  amendment  wiped  out  the  color  line 
in  politics  so  far  as  any  written  law  could  possibly  do  it. 

Let  me  here  express  my  profound  conviction  that  the  principle 
of  political  equality  then  laid  down  is  a  sound,  valid,  and  absolutely 
essential  principle  of  any  free  government;  that  the  restriction  upon 
the  ballot,  when  necessary,  should  be  made  to  apply  equally  to  white 
and  colored  citizens,  and  that  the  fifteenth  amendment  ought  not 
to  be  repealed.  Moreover,  I  am  convinced  that  the  principle  of 
political  equality  is  more  firmly  established  today  than  it  was  forty 
years  ago,  when  it  had  only  Northern  bayonets  behind  it.  For 
now,  however  short  the  practice  falls  of  reaching  the  legal  standard, 
the  principle  is  woven  into  the  warp  and  woof  of  Southern  life  and 
Southern  legislation.  Not  a  few  Southern  white  leaders  of  thought 
are  today  convinced,  not  forced  believers  in  the  principle,  and  that 
is  a  great  omen. 

Limitations  have  come  about,  it  is  true,  and  were  to  be  expected 
as  the  back-currents  of  the  revolution.  Laws  providing  for  educa- 
tional or  property  qualifications  as  a  prerequisite  to  the  exercise  of 
suffrage  have  been  passed  in  all  the  Southern  States,  and  have  oper- 
ated to  exclude  from  the  ballot  large  numbers  of  both  white  and 
colored  citizens,  who,  on  account  of  ignorance  or  poverty,  are  unable 
to  meet  the  tests.  These  provisions,  whatever  the  opinion  enter- 
tained as  to  the  wisdom  of  such  laws,  are  well  within  the  principle 
laid  down  by  the  fifteenth  amendment.  But  several  Southern  States 
have  gone  a  step  farther,  and  have  passed  the  so-called  "grandfather 
laws,"  the  effect  of  which  is  to  exempt  certain  ignorant  white  men 
from  the  necessity  of  meeting  the  educational  and  property  tests. 
Some  of  these  unfair  "grandfather  laws"  have  now  expired  by  lim- 
itation in  the  states  adopting  them  and  some  are  in  process  of  being 
tested  in  the  courts. 


PROBLEMS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  99 

Let  me,  then,  lay  down  this  general  proposition: 

Nowhere  in  the  South  today  is  the  Negro  cut  off  legally,  as  a 
Negro,  from  the  ballot.  Legally,  today,  any  Negro  who  can  meet 
the  comparatively  slight  requirements  as  to  education,  or  property, 
or  both,  can  cast  his  ballot  on  a  basis  of  equality  with  the  white 
man.  I  have  emphasized  the  word  legally,  for  I  know  the  practical 
difficulties  which  confront  the  Negro  voter  in  many  parts  of  the 
South.  In  the  enforcement  of  the  law,  the  legislative  ideal  is  still 
pegged  out  far  beyond  the  actual  performance. 

Now,  then,  if  we  are  interested  in  the  problem  of  democracy, 
we  have  two  courses  open  to  us.  We  may  think  the  laws  are  unjust 
to  the  Negro,  and  incidentally  to  the  poor  white  man  as  well.  If 
we  do  we  have  a  perfect  right  to  agitate  for  a  change,  and  we  can 
do  much  to  disclose,  without  heat,  the  actual  facts  regarding  the 
complicated  and  vexatious  legislative  situation  in  the  South,  as 
regards  the  suffrage.  Every  change  in  the  legislation  upon  this 
subject  should,  indeed,  be  jealously  watched  that  the  principle  of 
political  equality  between  the  races  be  not  legally  curtailed.  The 
doctrine  laid  down  in  the  fifteenth  amendment  must,  at  any  hazard, 
be  maintained. 

But  personally,  and  I  am  here  voicing  a  profound  conviction, 
1  think  our  emphasis  at  present  should  be  laid  upon  the  practical 
rather  than  upon  the  legal  aspect  of  the  problem.  I  think  we  should 
take  advantage  of  the  widely  prevalent  feeling  in  the  South  that 
the  question  of  suffrage  has  been  settled,  legally,  for  some  time  to 
come;  of  the  desire  on  the  part  of  many  Southern  people,  both  white 
and  colored,  to  turn  aside  from  the  discussion  of  the  political  status 
of  the  Negro.  In  short,  let  us  for  the  time  being  accept  the  laws 
as  they  are,  and  build  upward  from  that  point.  Let  us  turn  our 
attention  to  the  practical  task  of  finding  out  why  it  is  that  the  laws 
we  alread}r  have  are  not  enforced,  and  how  best  to  secure  an  honest 
vote  for  every  Negro  and  equally  for  every  "poor  white"  man, 
(and  there  are  thousands  of  him)  who  is  able  to  meet  the  require- 
ments, but  who  for  one  reason  or  another  does  not  or  cannot  exer- 
cise his  rights. 

Taking  up  this  side  of  the  question  we  shall  discover  two  entirely 
distinct  difficulties: 

First,  we  shall  find  many  Negroes,  and  indeed  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  white  men  as  well,  who  might  vote,  but  who  through 


100  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

ignorance,  or  the  inability  or  unwillingness  to  pay  poll  taxes,  or  from 
mere  lack  of  interest,  disfranchise  themselves. 

The  second  difficulty  is  peculiar  to  the  Negro.  It  consists  in 
open  or  concealed  intimidation  on  the  part  of  the  white  men  who 
control  the  election  machinery.  In  many  places  in  the  South  today 
no  Negro,  no  matter  how  well  qualified,  would  dare  to  present  him- 
self for  registration.  When  he  does  he  is  often  rejected  for  some 
trivial  or  illegal  reason. 

Thus  we  have  to  meet  a  vast  amount  of  apathy  and  ignorance 
and  poverty  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  threat  of  intimidation  on 
the  other. 

First  of  all,  for  it  is  the  chief  injustice  as  between  white  and 
colored  men  that  we  have  to  deal — an  injustice  which  the  law 
already  makes  punishable — how  shall  we  meet  the  matter  of  intimi- 
dation? As  I  have  said  already  the  door  of  the  suffrage  is  every- 
where legally  open  to  the  Negro,  but  a  certain  sort  of  Southerner 
bars  the  passageway.  He  stands  there  and,  law  or  no  law,  keeps 
out  many  Negroes  who  might  vote,  and  he  represents  in  most  parts 
of  the  South  the  prevailing  public  opinion. 

Shall  we  meet  this  situation  by  force?  What  force  is  available? 
Shall  the  North  go  down  and  fight  the  South?  But  the  North  today 
has  no  feeling  but  friendship  for  the  South.  More  than  that,  and 
I  say  it  with  all  seriousness,  because  it  represents  what  I  have  heard 
wherever  I  have  gone  in  the  North  to  make  inquiries  regarding  the 
Negro  problem,  the  North,  wrongly  or  rightly,  is  today  more  than 
half  convinced  that  the  South  is  right  in  imposing  some  measure 
of  limitation  upon  the  franchise.  There  is  now,  in  short,  no  dis- 
position anywhere  in  the  North  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs 
of  the  South — not  even  with  the  force  of  public  opinion. 

What  other  force,  then,  is  to  be  invoked?  Shall  the  Negro 
revolt?  Shall  he  migrate?  The  very  asking  of  these  questions  sug- 
gests the  inevitable  reply. 

We  might  as  well,  here  and  now,  dismiss  the  idea  of  force, 
express  or  implied.  There  are  times  of  last  resort  which  call  for 
force  (and  the  time  may  come  in  the  future  when  force  will  again 
have  to  be  applied  to  cure  injustice);  but  this  plainly  is  not  such 
a  time. 

What  other  alternatives  are  there? 

Accepting  the  laws  as  they  are,  then,  there  are  two  methods 
of  procedure,  neither  sensational,  nor  exciting. 


PROBLEMS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  101 

The  underlying  causes  of  the  trouble  in  the  country  being  plainly 
ignorance  and  prejudice,  we  must  meet  ignorance  and  prejudice  with 
their  antidotes:  education  and  association. 

Every  effort  should  be  made  to  extend  free  education  both 
among  Negroes  and  white  people.  A  great  extension  of  education 
is  now  going  forward  in  the  South.  The  Negro  is  not  by  any  means 
getting  his  full  share  (indeed  he  is  getting  shamefully  less  than  his 
share),  but  as  certainly  as  sunshine  makes  things  grow,  education 
in  the  South  will  produce  tolerance.  That  there  is  already  such  a 
growing  tolerance  no  one  who  has  talked  with  the  leading  white 
men  of  the  South  can  doubt.  The  old  fire-eating,  Negro-baiting 
leaders  of  the  Tillman-Vardaman  type  are  passing  away:  a  far  better 
and  broader  group  is  coming  into  power. 

In  his  last  book  Mr.  Edgar  Gardner  Murphy,  of  Alabama, 
expresses  this  new  point  of  view  when  he  says: 

There  is  no  question  here  as  to  the  unrestricted  admission  (to  the  ballot) 
of  the  great  masses  of  our  ignorant  and  semi-ignorant  blacks.  I  know  no 
advocate  of  such  an  admission.  But  the  question  is  as  to  whether  the  indi- 
viduals of  the  race,  upon  conditions  of  restriction  legally  imposed  and  fairly 
administered,  shall  be  admitted  to  an  adequate  and  increasing  representa- 
tion in  the  electorate.  And  as  that  question  is  more  seriously  and  more  gen- 
erally considered  many  of  the  leading  publicists  of  the  South,  I  am  glad  to 
say,  are  quietly  resolved  that  the  answer  shall  be  in  the  affirmative. 

From  an  able  Southern  white  man,  a  resident  of  New  Orleans, 
I  received  only  recently  a  letter  containing  these  words: 

"I  believe  we  have  reached  the  bottom,  and  a  sort  of  quiescent 
period.  I  think  it  most  likely  that  from  now  on  there  will  be  a 
gradual  increase  in  the  Negro  vote.  And  I  honestly  believe  that 
the  less  said  about  it,  the  surer  the  increase  will  be." 

Education,  and  by  education  I  mean  education  of  all  sorts, 
industrial,  professional,  classical,  in  accordance  with  each  man's  tal- 
ents will  not  only  produce  breadth  and  tolerance,  but  it  will  help 
to  cure  the  apathy  which  now  keeps  so  many  thousands  of  both 
white  men  and  Negroes  from  the  polls:  for  it  will  show  them  that 
it  is  necessary  for  e,very  man  to  exercise  all  the  political  rights  within 
his  reach.  For  if  he  fails  voluntarily  to  take  advantage  of  the 
rights  he  already  has,  how  shall  he  acquire  more  rights? 

As  ignorance  must  be  met  by  education,  so  prejudice  must  be 
met  with  its  antidote,  which  is  association.  Democracy  does  not 


102  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

consist  in  mere  voting,  but  in  association,  the  spirit  of  common 
effort,  of  which  the  ballot  is  a  visible  expression.  When  we  come 
to  know  one  another  we  soon  find  that  the  points  of  likeness  are 
much  more  numerous  than  the  points  of  difference.  And  this  human 
association  for  the  common  good,  which  is  democracy,  is  difficult 
to  bring  about  anywhere,  whether  among  different  classes  of  white 
people,  or  between  white  people  and  Negroes. 

After  the  Atlanta  riot  I  attended  a  number  of  conferences  be- 
tween leading  white  men  and  leading  colored  men.  It  is  true  these 
meetings  bore  evidence  of  awkwardness  and  embarrassment,  for  they 
were  among  the  first  of  that  sort  to  take  place  in  the  South,  but 
they  were  none  the  less  valuable.  A  white  man  told  me  after  one 
of  these  meetings:  "I  did  not  know  there  were  any  such  sensible 
Negroes  in  the  South."  And  a  Negro  told  me  that  it  was  the  first 
time  in  his  life  that  he  had  ever  heard  a  Southern  white  man  reason 
in  a  friendly  manner  with  a  Negro  concerning  their  common  diffi- 
culties. 

More  and  more  these  associations  of  white  and  colored  men, 
at  certain  points  of  contact,  must  and  will  come  about.  Already, 
in  connection  with  various  educational  and  business  projects  in  the 
South,  white  men  and  colored  men  meet  on  common  grounds,  and 
the  way  has  been  opened  to  a  wider  mutual  understanding.  And 
it  is  common  enough  now,  where  it  was  unheard  of  a  few  years  ago, 
for  both  white  men  and  Negroes  to  speak  from  the  same  platform 
in  the  South.  I  have  attended  a  number  of  such  meetings.  Thus 
slowly,  awkwardly  at  first — for  two  centuries  of  prejudice  are  not 
easily  overcome — the  white  man  and  Negro  are  coming  to  know 
each  other,  not  as  master  and  servant,  but  as  co-workers.  These 
things  cannot  be  forced. 

One  reason  why  the  white  man  and  the  Negro  have  not  got 
together  more  rapidly  in  the  South  than  they  have,  is  because  they 
have  tried  always  to  meet  at  the  sorest  points.  When  sensible 
people,  who  must  live  together  whether  or  no,  find  that  there  are 
points  at  which  they  cannot  agree,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  avoid 
those  points,  and  to  meet  upon  other  and  common  interests.  Upon 
no  other  terms,  indeed,  can  a  democracy  exist,  for  in  no  imaginable 
future  state  will  individuals  cease  to  disagree  with  one  another 
upon  something  less  than  half  of  all  the  problems  of  life. 

"Here  we  all  live  together  in  a  great  country,"  say  the  apostles 


PROBLEMS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  103 

of  this  view,  "let  us  all  get  together  and  develop  it.  Let  the  Xegro 
do  his  best  to  educate  himself,  to  own  his  own  land,  and  to  buy  and 
sell  with  the  white  people  in  the  fairest  possible  way  " 

Now,  buying  and  selling,  land  ownership  and  common  material 
pursuits  may  not  be  the  highest  points  of  contact  between  man  and 
man,  but  they  are  real  points,  and  they  help  to  give  men  an  idea 
of  the  worth  of  their  fellows,  white  or  black.  How  many  times, 
in  the  South,  I  have  heard  a  white  man  speak  in  high  admiration 
for  some  Xegro  farmer  who  had  been  successful,  or  of  some  Negro 
blacksmith  who  was  a  worthy  citizen,  or  some  Negro  doctor  who 
wu-  a  leader  of  his  race. 

It  is  curious  once  a  man  (any  man,  white  or  black)  learns  to 
do  his  job  well  how  he  finds  himself  in  a  democratic  relationship 
with  other  men.  I  remember  asking  a  prominent  white  citizen  of 
a  town  in  central  Georgia  if  he  knew  anything  about  Tuskegee.  He 
said : 

Yes;  I  had  rather  a  curious  experience  last  fall.  I  was  building  a  hotel 
and  couldn't  get  anyone  to  do  the  plastering  as  I  wanted  it  done.  One  day 
I  saw  two  Xegro  plasterers  at  work  in  a  new  house  that  a  friend  of  mine  was 
building.  I  watched  them  for  an  hour.  They  seemed  to  know  their  trade. 
I  invited  them  to  come  over  and  see  me.  They  came,  took  the  contract  for 
my  work,  hired  a  white  man  to  carry  mortar  at  a  dollar  a  day,  and  when 
they  got  through  it  was  the  best  job  of  plastering  in  town.  I  found  that  they 
had  learned  their  trade  at  Tuskegee.  They  averaged  four  dollars  a  day  each 
in  wages.  We  tried  to  get  them  to  locate  in  our  town,  but  they  went  back  to 
school. 

Out  of  such  crude  points  of  contact  will  grow  an  ever  finer  and 
finer  spirit  of  association  and  of  common  and  friendly  knowledge. 
And  that  will  lead  inevitably  to  an  extension  upon  the  soundest 
possible  basis  of  Negro  franchise.  I  know  cases  where  white  men 
have  urged  intelligent  Negroes  to  cast  their  ballots,  and  have  stood 
sponsor  for  them  out  of  genuine  respect.  Today,  Negroes  who 
vote  in  the  South  are  as  a  class,  men  of  substance  and  intelligence, 
fully  equal  to  the  tasks  of  citizenship. 

Thus  I  have  confidence  not  only  in  the  sense  of  the  white  man 
in  the  South  but  in  the  innate  capability  of  the  Negro — and  that 
once  these  two  really  come  to  know  each  other,  not  at  sore  points 
of  contact,  nor  as  mere  master  and  servant,  but  as  workers  for  a 
common  country,  the  question  of  suffrage  will  gradually  solve  itself 
in  the  interest  of  true  democracy. 


104  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

Another  influence  also  will  tend  to  change  the  status  of  the 
Negro  as  a  voter.  That  is  the  pending  break-up  of  the  political 
solidarity  of  the  South.  All  the  signs  point  to  a  political  re-align- 
ment upon  new  issues  in  this  country,  both  South  and  North.  Old 
party  names  may  even  pass  away.  And  that  break-up,  with  the 
attendant  struggle  for  votes,  is  certain  to  bring  into  politics  thou- 
sands of  Negroes  and  white  men  now  disfranchised.  The  result  of 
a  real  division  on  live  issues  has  been  shown  in  many  local  contests 
in  the  South,  as  in  the  fight  against  the  saloons,  when  every  qualified 
Negro  voter,  and  every  Negro  who  could  qualify,  was  eagerly  pushed 
forward  by  one  side  or  the  other.  With  such  a  division  on  new 
issues  the  Negro  will  tend  to  exercise  more  and  more  political  power, 
dividing  not  on  the  color  line,  but  on  the  principles  at  stake.  Still 
another  influence  which  is  helping  to  solve  the  problem  is  the  wider 
diffusion  of  Negroes  throughout  the  country.  The  proportion  of 
Negroes  to  the  whites  in  most  of  the  Southern  States  is  decreasing, 
thereby  relieving  the  fear  of  Negro  domination,  whereas  Negroes 
are  increasing  largely  in  Northern  communities,  where  they  take 
their  place  in  politics  not  as  an  indigestible  mass,  but  divide  along 
party  lines  even  more  readily  than  some  of  the  foreign-American 
groups  in  our  population.  A  study  of  the  Negro  vote  in  November, 
1912,  would  show  that  many  Negroes  broke  their  historic  allegiance 
with  the  Republican  party  and  voted  for  Roosevelt,  while  some 
even  cast  their  votes  for  Wilson;  and  in  local  elections  the  division 
is  still  more  marked. 

Thus  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  which  now  confront  the  Negro, 
I  cannot  help  looking  upon  the  situation  with  a  spirit  of  optimism. 
.  I  think  sometimes  we  are  tempted  to  set  a  higher  value  upon  the 
ritual  of  a  belief  than  upon  the  spirit  which  underlies  it.  The  ballot 
is  not  democracy;  it  is  merely  the  symbol  or  ritual  of  democracy, 
and  it  may  be  full  of  passionate  social  significance,  or  it  may  be  a 
mere  empty  and  dangerous  formalism.  What  we  should  look  to, 
then,  primarily,  is  not  the  shadow,  but  the  substance  of  democracy 
in  this  country.  Nor  must  we  look  for  results  too  swiftly;  our 
progress  toward  democracy  is  slow  of  growth  and  needs  to  be  culti- 
vated with  patience  and  watered  with  faith. 


CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  THE  CITIES 

BY  GEORGE  EDMUND  HAYNES,  PH.D., 

Director,  National  League  on  Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes;  Professor 
of  Social  Science,  Fisk  University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Fifty  years  after  four  millions  of  Negro  slaves  were  made  freed- 
men,  there  is  still  the  responsibility  upon  the  nation  to  make  that 
seeming  freedom  really  free.  So  many  other  national  problems  thrust 
themselves  upon  the  attention  of  the  people  today  that  there  is  danger 
lest  the  nation  grow  forgetful  of  the  tremendous  portent  of  this 
special  responsibility  left  it  from  the  past.  The  present  generation 
is  doubtless  just  as  loyal  to  the  principles  of  liberty  and  just  as 
faithful  to  the  ideals  of  democracy  as  were  the  fathers  of  the  repub- 
lic, but  the  principles  and  ideals  of  the  American  people  are  meeting 
the  challenge  of  latter  day  problems,  and  the  people  may  become 
unmindful  of  unfinished  tasks.  Thus  the  condition  of  the  Negro 
may  receive  less  attention  from  the  nation;  his  economic  and  social 
difficulties  may  be  less  generally  known;  his  migrations  and  concen- 
tration in  cities,  North  and  South,  are  given  less  attention.  The 
increasing  segregated  settlements  and  life  of  Negroes  within  the 
cities  may  excite  less  concern.  The  resulting  intensified  industrial, 
housing,  health  and  other  maladjustments  and  the  Negro's  heroic 
struggles  to  overcome  these  maladjustments  are  in  these  days  likely 
to  be  little  considered.  These  conditions  demand  thought. 

I.    THE    URBAN   MOVEMENT 

But  social  changes  do  not  frequently  keep  time  with  social 
thought,  for  they  are  usually  the  result  of  unconscious  social  forces. 
Many  of  the  changes  among  Negroes,  especially  the  change  from 
country  to  city,  have  been  of  such  a  character. 

The  past  half  century  has  seen  an  acceleration  of  the  urban 
migration  of  the  entire  population.  The  Negro  has  been  in  that 
population  stream.  At  times  and  in  places  his  movement  cityward 
has  been  affected  by  special  influences,  but  where  influences  have 
been  similar  his  movement  has  been  similar. 

The  Emancipation  Proclamation  not  only  abolished  the  owner- 

105 


106  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

ship  of  the  slave,  but  it  also  released  him  from  the  soil.  With  this 
breaking  down  of  the  economic  system  based  upon  slavery,  many 
of  the  landless  freedmen  fell  victims  to  the  wanderlust  which  has 
usually  affected  the  masses  in  times  of  sudden  social  upheaval. 
Thousands  of  Negroes  flocked  to  the  Union  Army  posts,  located  in 
towns  and  cities.  The  Ku-Klux  terrorism  and  the  mistaken  notion 
of  federal  paternalistic  care  added  their  power  to  the  other  forces 
which  operated,  during  and  immediately  after  the  war,  to  thrust 
the  Negro  into  the  towns.  In  fourteen  Southern  cities  between  1860 
and  1870  the  white  population  increased  16.7  per  cent,  and  the 
Negro  90.7  per  cent;  in  eight  Northern  cities  (counting  all  the 
boroughs  of  New  York  City  as  now  constituted  as  one)  the  Negro 
population  increased  51  per  cent. 

But  with  the  removal  of  exceptional  influences,  the  Negro  immi- 
gration was  reduced.  Figures  for  white  and  Negro  population  in 
principal  Southern  cities  are  obtainable  from  1870  to  1910,  as  follows: 

1870  to  1880  the  whites  increased  20.3  per  cent,  Negroes  25.5  per  cent 
1880  to  1890  the  whites  increased  35.7  per  cent,  Negroes  38.7  per  cent 
1890  to  1900  the  whites  increased  20.8  per  cent,  Negroes  20.6  per  cent 
1900  to  1910  the  whites  increased  27.7  per  cent,  Negroes  20.6  per  cent 

Just  how  far  the  increase  of  whites  and  Negroes  in  Southern 
cities  has  been  proportionately  affected  by  the  drift  to  Northern 
cities  from  Southern  territory  cannot  be  ascertained,  as  the  numbers 
of  Southern  whites  who  migrate  North  are  unknown.  Surmises  may 
be  made  from  the  per  cent  increase  of  Negroes  in  eight  Northern 
cities,  which  was  as  follows : 

1870  to  1880 36.4  per  cent 

1880  to  1890 32.3  per  cent 

1890  to  1900 59.2  per  cent 

The  increase  of  the  urban  population,  both  white  and  Negro 
was  greater  than  the  rural  increase  between  1890  and  1900  (the  best 
periods  for  which  we  have  figures  for  good  comparisons)  for  both 
the  Continental  United  States  and  for  the  Southern  States.  In 
242  Southern  towns  and  cities  which  had  at  least  2500  inhabitants 
in  1890,  the  Negroes  increased,  1890  to  1900,  nearly  one-third  faster 
than  Negroes  in  the  rural  districts.  "In  the  country  districts  of  the 
South  the  Negroes  increased  (1809  to  1900)  about  two-thirds  as 
fast  as  the  whites;  in  the  cities  they  increased  nearly  seven-eighths 


CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  THE  CITIES 


107 


as  fast."     Figures  for  the  white  and  Negro  increase  in  both  city  and 
country  districts  follow: 

PER  CENT  INCREASE,  1890  TO  1900 


CIT 

IBS 

COUNTRY 

DISTRICTS 

White 

Negro 

White 

Negro 

Continental  United  States        

35  7 

35  2 

12  4 

13  7 

South  Atlantic  and  South  Central 
Divisions  

36.7 

31.8 

22  9 

14  6 

The  trend  of  all  these  figures  shows  that  where  the  influences 
and  conditions  are  similar  the  movements  of  the  two  races  have  been 
similar. 

The  causes,  besides  the  breaking  down  of  the  slave  regime,  that 
have  operated  to  draw  the  Negro  to  urban  centers  have  been  those 
fundamental  economic,  social  and  individual  causes  which  have 
affected  the  general  population.  Chief  among  these  has  been  the 
growth  of  industrial  and  commercial  activities  in  urban  centers. 
From  1880  to  1900  Southern  cities  (according  to  the  showing  of  the 
census  figures  of  manufactures,  which  are  only  approximately  exact) 
have  increased  143.3  per  cent  in  total  value  of  manufactured  prod- 
ucts, and  60.9  per  cent  in  the  average  number  of  wage-earners, 
exclusive  of  proprietors,  salaried  officers  and  clerks,  in  manufacturing 
enterprises. 

Railroad  building,  total  tonnage  and  gross  earnings  show  the 
development  of  commerce.  In  thirteen  Southern  states  from  1860 
to  1900,  railway  mileage  increased  461.9  per  cent.  Total  tonnage 
for  most  of  this  territory  increased  90.5  per  cent  in  the  years  from 
1890  to  1900,  while  the  total  freight,  passenger,  express  and  mail 
earnings  increased  48.4  per  cent  in  the  same  decade. 

All  the  facts  available  show  that  the  Negro  shares  the  influence 
of  these  developments.  That  he  is  a  main  factor  in  the  labor  of 
the  South  is  evident.  In  a  number  of  Southern  cities  the  white 
and  Negro  increases  in  selected  gainful  occupations  were  as  follows, 
between  1890  and  1900:  in  domestic  and  personal  service,  male 
whites  increased  42.3  per  cent,  Negroes  31.1  per  cent;  in  trade  and 
transportation  occupations,  male  whites  increased  25.2  per  cent, 
Negroes  39.1  per  cent;  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits, 
male  whites  16.3  per  cent,  Negroes  11.6  per  cent. 


108  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

The  divorce  of  the  Negro  from  the  soil  after  emancipation,  and 
the  growth  of  the  industrial  and  commercial  centers  are  causes 
which  are  supplemented  by  the  effect  of  higher  wages  paid  weekly 
or  monthly  in  the  city  on  the  economic  motives  of  workers;  by  the 
trend  of  legislation,  especially  labor  laws,  which  favor  the  city  and 
which,  in  practical  effect  in  some  parts  of  the  South,  make  harder 
the  uninviting  lot  of  the  land  tenant:  by  improved  educational  and 
amusement  facilities,  and  by  the  contact  with  the  moving  crowds; 
while  the  paved  and  lighted  streets,  the  greater  comforts  of  the 
houses  and  other  conveniences  which  the  rustic  imagines  he  can 
easily  get  and  the  dazzling  glare  of  the  unknown  great  world  are 
viewed  in  decided  contrast  to  the  hard,  humdrum  conditions  and 
poor  accommodations  on  plantation  and  farm. 

The  available  facts  and  figures  bear  out  the  conclusion  that 
along  with  the  white  population  the  Negroes,  under  the  influence  of 
causes  likely  to  operate  for  an  indefinite  period,  will  continue  to 
migrate  to  the  towns  and  cities,  and  that  they  will  come  in  com- 
paratively large  numbers  to  stay. 

Already  the  Negro  urban  population  has  grown  to  considerable 
proportions.  In  1860  it  is  estimated  that  about  4.2  per  cent  of  all 
the  Negroes  in  the  United  States  were  urban  dwellers  (places  of 
4,000  or  more).  By  1890  it  had  risen  to  19.8  per  cent  (places  of 
2,500  or  more;  the  figures  for  1890  and  since  are  not,  therefore, 
comparable  with  those  for  censuses  preceding);  in  1900  it  was  22.7 
per  cent,  and  in  1910,  27.4  per  cent,  or  more  than  one-fourth  of 
the  total  Negro  population.  In  1910  thirty-nine  cities  had  10,000 
or  more  Negroes,  and  the  following  twelve  cities  had  more  than 
40,000  Negroes  each: 

Atlanta,  Ga 51,902 

Baltimore,  Md 84,749 

Birmingham,  Ala 52,305 

Chicago,  111 44,103 

Louisville,  Ky 40,522 

Memphis,  Tenn 52,441 

New  Orleans,  La 89,262 

New  York,  N.  Y 91,709 

Philadelphia,  Pa. . 84,459 

Richmond,  Va 46,733 

St.  Louis,  Mo 43,960 

Washington,  D.  C 94,446 


CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  THE  CITIES  109 

Negroes  constituted  one-fourth  or  more  of  the  total  population 
of  twenty-seven  principal  cities  (25,000  or  more  total  population), 
and  in  four  of  these  cities — viz.,  Montgomery,  Ala.,  Jacksonville 
Fla.,  Savannah,  Ga.  and  Charleston,  S.  C. — the  Negro  population 
was  something  more  than  one-half. 

II.    SEGREGATION   WITHIN   THE    CITY 

Migration  to  the  city  is  being  followed  by  segregation  into  dis- 
tricts and  neighborhoods  within  the  city.  In  Northern  cities  years 
ago  Negro  residents,  for  the  most  part,  lived  where  their  purses 
allowed.  With  the  influx  of  thousands  of  immigrants  from  the 
South  and  the  West  Indies,  both  native  Negro  and  newcomer  have 
been  lumped  together  into  distinct  neighborhoods.  In  Southern 
cities  domestic  servants  usually  still  live  upon  the  premises  of  their 
employers  or  near  by.  But  the  growing  Negro  business  and  pro- 
fessional classes  and  those  engaged  in  other  than  domestic  and  per- 
sonal service  find  separate  sections  in  which  to  dwell.  Thus  the 
Negro  ghetto  is  growing  up.  New  York  has  its  "San  Juan  Hill" 
in  the  West  Sixties,  and  its  Harlem  district  of  over  35,000  within 
about  eighteen  city  blocks;  Philadelphia  has  its  Seventh  Ward; 
Chicago  has  its  State  Street;  Washington  its  North  West  neighbor- 
hood, and  Baltimore  its  Druid  Hill  Avenue.  Louisville  has  its 
Chestnut  Street  and  its  "Smoketown;"  Atlanta  its  West  End  and 
Auburn  Avenue.  These  are  examples  taken  at  random  which  are 
typical  of  cities,  large  and  small,  North  and  South. 

This  segregation  within  the  city  is  caused  by  strong  forces  at 
work  both  within  and  without  the  body  of  the  Negroes  themselves. 
Naturally,  Negroes  desire  to  be  together.  The  consciousness  of  land 
in  racial,  family  and  friendly  ties  binds  them  closer  to  one  another 
than  to  their  white  fellow-citizens.  But  as  Negroes  develop  in  intel- 
ligence, in  their  standard  of  living  and  economic  power,  they  desire 
better  houses,  better  public  facilities  and  other  conveniences  not 
usually  obtainable  in  the  sections  allotted  to  their  less  fortunate 
black  brothers.  To  obtain  these  advantages  they  seek  other  neigh- 
borhoods, just  as  the  European  immigrants  who  are  crowded  into  seg- 
regated sections  of  our  cities  seek  better  surroundings  when  they 
are  economically  able  to  secure  them. 

But  a  prejudiced  opposition  from  his  prospective  white  neigh- 


110  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

bors  confronts  the  Negro,  which  does  not  meet  the  immigrant  who 
has  shuffled  off  the  coil  of  his  Continental  condition.  Intelligence 
and  culture  do  not  often  discount  color  of  skin.  Professions  of 
democratic  justice  in  the  North,  and  deeds  of  individual  kindness 
in  the  South,  have  not  yet  secured  to  Negroes  the  unmolested 
residence  in  blocks  with  white  fellow-citizens.  In  Northern  cities 
where  larger  liberty  in  some  avenues  obtains,  the  home  life, 
the  church  life  and  much  of  the  business  and  community  life  of 
Negroes  are  carried  on  separately  and  apart  from  the  common  life 
of  the  whole  people.  In  Southern  communities,  with  separate  street- 
car laws,  separate  places  of  amusement  and  recreation,  separate 
hospitals  and  separate  cemeteries,  there  is  sharp  cleavage  be- 
tween whites  and  Negroes,  living  and  dead.  With  separation  in 
neighborhoods,  in  work,  in  churches,  in  homes  and  in  almost  every 
phase  of  their  Me,  there  is  growing  up  in  the  cities  of  America  a 
distinct  Negro  world,  isolated  from  many  of  the  impulses  of  the 
common  life  and  little  known  and  understood  by  the  white  world 
about  it. 

III.    THE   SEQUEL   OF   SEGREGATION 

In  the  midst  of  this  migration  and  segregation,  the  Negro  is 
trying  to  make  a  three-fold  adjustment,  each  phase  of  which  requires 
heroic  struggle.  First,  there  is  the  adjustment  that  all  rural  popu- 
lations have  to  make  in  learning  to  live  in  town.  Adjustment  to 
conditions  of  housing,  employment,  amusement,  etc.,  is  necessary 
for  all  who  make  the  change  from  country  to  city.  The  Negro  must 
make  a  second  adjustment  from  the  status  of  a  chattel  to  that  of 
free  contract,  from  servitude  to  citizenship.  He  has  to  realize  in 
his  own  consciousness  the  self-confidence  of  a  free  man.  Finally, 
the  Negro  must  adjust  himself  to  the  white  population  in  the  cities, 
and  it  is  no  exaggeration  of  the  facts  to  say  that  generally  today 
the  attitude  of  this  white  population  is  either  indifferent  or  preju- 
diced or  both. 

Now,  the  outcome  of  segregation  in  such  a  serious  situation  is 
first  of  all  to  create  an  attitude  of  suspicion  and  hostility  between 
the  best  elements  of  the  two  races.  Too  much  of  the  Negro's  knowl- 
edge of  the  white  world  comes  through  demagogues,  commercial 
sharks,  yellow  journalism  and  those  "citizens"  who  compose  the 
mobs,  while  too  much  of  the  white  man's  knowledge  of  the  Negro 


CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  THE  CITIES  111 

people  is  derived  from  similar  sources,  from  domestic  servants  and 
from  superficial  observation  of  the  loafers  about  the  streets.  The 
best  elements  of  both  races,  thus  entirely  removed  from  friendly 
contact,  except  for  the  chance  meeting  of  individuals  in  the  market 
place,  know  hardly  anything  of  their  common  life  and  tend  to  become 
more  suspicious  and  hostile  toward  each  other  than  toward  strangers 
from  a  far  country. 

The  white  community  is  thus  frequently  led  to  unjust  judg- 
ments of  Negroes  and  Negro  neighborhoods,  as  seen  in  the  soubriquets 
of  "little  Africa,"  "black  bottom,"  "Niggertown,"  "Smoketown, 
"Buzzard's  Alley,"  "Chinch-row,"  and  as  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
the  individuals  and  families  who  live  in  these  neighborhoods  are 
all  lumped  by  popular  opinion  into  one  class.  Only  here  and  there 
does  a  white  person  come  to  know  that  "there  are  Negroes  and 
Negroes  just  as  there  are  white  folks  and  white  folks."  The  most 
serious  side  of  this  attitude  and  opinion  is,  that  the  Negro  is  handi- 
capped by  them  in  securing  the  very  things  that  would  help  him 
in  working  out  his  own  salvation. 

1.  The  Sequel  in  Housing  Conditions 

In  the  matter  of  the  housing  conditions  under  which  he  must  live, 
reliable  investigations  have  shown  that  in  several  cities  the  "red-light" 
districts  of  white  people  are  either  in  the  midst  of,  or  border  closely 
upon  Negro  neighborhoods.  Also  respectable  Negroes  often  find  it  im- 
possible to  free  themselves  from  disreputable  and  vicious  neighbors  of 
their  own  race,  because  the  localities  in  which  both  may  live  are  limited. 
And  on  top  of  this,  Negroes  often  pay  higher  rentals  for  accommo- 
dations similar  to  those  of  white  tenants,  and,  frequently,  improved 
houses  are  secured  only  when  white  people  who  occupied  them  have 
moved  on  to  something  better.  In  Southern  cities,  many  of  the 
abler  classes  of  Negroes  have  escaped  the  environment  of  the  vicious 
element  by  creating  decent  neighborhoods  through  home  ownership, 
and  by  eternal  vigilance,  excluding  saloons,  gambling  places  or 
other  degrading  agencies.  For  the  poorer  and  less  thrifty  element, 
in  a  number  of  towns  and  cities,  loose  building  regulations  allow 
greedy  landlords  to  profit  by  "gun-barrel"  shanties  and  cottages, 
by  "arks,"  of  which  the  typical  pigeon-house  would  be  a  construc- 
tion model,  and  by  small  houses  crowded  upon  the  same  lot,  often 
facing  front  street,  side  street  and  the  alley,  with  lack  of  sewerage 


112  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

and  with  other  sanitary  neglect,  which  an  inspector  of  one  Southern 
city  described  as  "a  crying  disgrace  to  any  civilized  people." 

Yet,  in  the  face  of  these  handicaps,  thousands  of  homes  that 
would  do  credit  to  any  people  on  earth  are  springing  up  in  these 
cities.  In  the  absence  or  with  the  indifference  of  sanitary  authori- 
ties, intelligent  Negroes  are  not  only  struggling  to  free  themselves 
from  disease-breeding  surroundings,  but  they  are  teaching  the  unin- 
telligent throng.  In  spite  of  spontaneous  schemes  of  real  estate 
owners  and  agents  to  keep  them  out  of  desirable  neighborhoods, 
in  spite  of  the  deliberate  designs  of  city  segregation  ordinances  such 
as  have  been  passed  in  several  cities  and  attempted  in  others,  in 
spite  of  intimidation,  the  abler  Negroes  in  some  cities  are  buying 
homes  and  creating  decent  neighborhoods  in  which  to  live.  How- 
ever, the  larger  proportion  are  rent  payers  and  not  owners,  hence 
they  need  intelligent  leadership  and  influential  support  in  their 
efforts  for  improved  housing  and  neighborhood  conditions. 

2.  The  Economic  Sequel 

Three  facts  should  be  placed  in  the  foreground  in  looking  at 
the  economic  conditions  of  the  segregated  Negro  in  the  city.  First, 
the  masses  of  those  who  have  migrated  to  town  are  unprepared  to 
meet  the  exacting  requirements  of  organized  industry,  and  the  keen 
competition  of  more  efficient  laborers.  Second,  organized  facilities 
for  training  these  inefficient,  groping  seekers  for  something  better 
are  next  to  nothing  in  practically  all  the  cities  to  which  they  are 
flocking.  They,  therefore,  drift  hit  or  miss  into  any  occupations 
which  are  held  out  to  their  unskilled  hands  and  untutored  brains. 
Natural  aptitude  enables  many  to  "pick  up"  some  skill,  and  these 
succeed  in  gaining  a  stable  place.  But  the  thousands  work  from 
day  to  day  with  that  weak  tenure  and  frequent  change  of  place 
from  which  all  unskilled,  unorganized  laborers  suffer  under  modern 
industry  and  trade. 

The  third  fact  of  prime  importance  is  the  prejudice  of  the  white 
industrial  world,  which  the  Negro  must  enter  to  earn  his  food,  shelter 
and  raiment.  This  prejudice,  when  displayed  by  employers,  is  partly 
due  to  the  inefficiency  indicated  above  and  the  failure  to  discrimi- 
nate between  the  efficient  individual  and  this  untrained  throng. 
When  exhibited  by  fellow  wage-earners,  it  is  partly  due  to  fear  of 
probable  successful  competitors  and  to  the  belief  that  the  Negro 


CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  THE  CITIES  113 

has  "his  place"  fixed  by  a  previous  condition  of  servitude.  But  in 
the  cases  of  many  employers  and  employees,  as  shown  in  numbers  of 
instances  carefully  investigated,  the  opposition  to  the  Negro  in 
industrial  pursuits  is  due  to  a  whimsical  dislike  of  any  workman 
who  is  not  white  and  especially  of  one  who  is  black! 

The  general  result  of  this  inefficiency,  of  this  lack  of  facilities  and 
guidance  for  occupational  training  which  would  overcome  the  defect, 
and  of  this  dwarfing  prejudice  is  far-reaching.  In  both  Northern 
and  Southern  cities  the  result  is  a  serious  limitation  of  the  occupa- 
tional field  for  Negroes,  thus  robbing  them  of  better  income  and 
depriving  the  community  of  a  large  supply  of  valuable  potential 
labor.  Examination  of  occupational  statistics  for  Northern  cities, 
shows  that  from  about  three-fourths  to  about  nine-tenths  of  Negro 
males  engaged  in  gainful  occupations  are  employed  in  domestic  and 
personal  service.  Workmen  in  industries  requiring  skill  are  so  well 
organized  in  the  North  that  Negroes  in  any  numbers  must  enter 
the  trades  through  union  portals.  Only  in  late  years,  and  frequently 
at  the  time  of  strikes,  as  in  the  building  trades'  strike  of  1900,  the 
stockyards'  strike  of  1904,  and  the  teamsters'  strike  of  1905  in 
Chicago,  has  the  Negro  been  recognized  as  a  fellow-workman  whose 
interests  are  common  with  the  cause  of  organized  labor.  A  large 
assortment  of  testimony  lately  gathered  by  Atlanta  University  from 
artisans  and  union  officials  in  all  parts  of  the  country  gives  firm 
ground  for  the  conclusion  that,  except  in  some  occupations  largely 
the  building  and  mining  trades,  white  union  men  are  yet  a  long 
distance  from  heartily  receiving  Negro  workmen  on  equal  terms. 

In  Southern  cities  Negro  labor  is  the  main  dependence  and 
manual  labor  is  slow  to  lose  the  badge  of  servitude.  But  for  selected 
occupations  in  Southern  cities  between  1890  and  1900  the  rate  of 
increase  in  domestic  and  personal  service  occupations  among  Negroes 
was  greater  than  those  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits, 
and  than  those  in  trade  and  transportation,  if  draymen,  hackmen,  and 
teamsters  are  omitted  from  the  last  classification.  The  occupations 
of  barbering,  whitewashing,  laundering  etc.,  are  being  absorbed  by 
white  men.  The  white  firemen  of  the  Georgia  Railroad  and  Queen 
and  Crescent  Railway,  struck  because  these  companies  insisted  upon 
giving  Negro  firemen  employment  on  desirable  trains.  These  are 
indications  of  a  possible  condition  when  the  desire  of  white  men 
for  places  held  by  Negroes  becomes  a  matter  of  keen  competition. 


114  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

An  able  writer  on  the  Negro  problem  has  asserted  that  in  the  South 
the  Negroes  can  get  any  work  "under  the  sun."  But  since  an 
increasing  proportion  of  modern  industry  is  conducted  in  the  shade, 
the  Southern  city  Negro  of  tomorrow  may  find  it  as  difficult  to 
wedge  his  way  into  the  better  paid  occupations  as  does  his  black 
brother  in  the  North  now. 

When  it  comes  to  the  question  of  business  experience  and  oppor- 
tunity, the  sea  is  still  thicker  with  reefs  and  shoals.  A  Negro  who 
wants  training  and  experience  in  some  line  of  business  that  he  may 
begin  some  enterprise  of  his  own,  finds,  except  in  very  rare  cases, 
the  avenues  to  positions  in  white  establishments  which  would  give 
him  this  experience  closed.  The  deadline  of  his  desire  is  a  messen- 
ger's place  or  a  porter's  job.  How  can  a  porter  learn  to  run  a  mer- 
cantile establishment  or  a  messenger  understand  how  to  manage  a 
bank?  His  only  alternative,  inexperienced  as  he  may  be,  is  to  risk 
his  meager  savings  in  venturing  upon  an  unsounded  sea.  Ship- 
wreck is  necessarily  the  rule,  and  successful  voyage  the  exception. 

The  successes,  however,  in  both  industry  and  trade  are  multi- 
plying, and  with  substantial  encouragement  may  change  the  rule 
to  exception  in  the  teeth  of  excessive  handicaps.  There  was  an 
increase  between  1890  and  1900  of  11.6  per  cent  of  Negroes  engaged 
in  selected  skilled  and  semi-skilled  occupations  in  Southern  cities.  In 
1910  the  executive  council  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  unani- 
mously passed  a  resolution  inviting  Negroes,  along  with  other  races, 
into  its  ranks.  Some  of  its  affiliated  bodies  have  shown  active  sym- 
pathy with  this  sentiment,  and  have  taken  steps  in  different  cities  to 
bring  in  Negro  workmen.  All  of  eleven  Negro  inventors  of  1911  were 
city  dwellers.  The  "Freedmen's  Bank,"  which  had  branches  in 
about  thirty-five  cities  and  towns  failed  in  1873.  During  its  exis- 
tence it  held  deposits  of  over  $50,000,000  of  savings  of  the  freedmen. 
Although  the  confidence  of  the  freedmen  was  shaken  to  its  founda- 
tion, they  have  rallied  and  in  1911  there  were  64  private  Negro 
banks  in  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  country.  Many  of  these  are 
thriving  institutions.  There  is  no  means  of  knowing  the  number 
and  importance  of  other  Negro  business  enterprises.  But  judging 
from  studies  of  Negro  business  enterprises  made  in  Philadelphia 
and  in  New  York  City,  and  from  the  widespread  attendance  upon 
the  annual  meetings  of  the  National  Negro  Business  League,  sub- 
stantial progress  is  triumphing  over  unusual  obstacles. 


CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  THE  CITIES  115 

3.  The  Sequel  in  Health  and  Morals 

Crowded  into  segregated  districts;  living  in  poor  houses  for  the 
most  part  for  which  they  pay  high  rentals;  often  untaught  and  with- 
out teachers  in  the  requirements  of  town  life;  walled  in  by  ineffi- 
ciency, lack  of  training  and  the  chance  to  get  the  training;  usually 
restricted  from  well-paid  occupations  by  the  prejudice  of  fellow-em- 
ployees and  frequently  by  the  prejudice  of  employers;  with  a  small 
income  and  the  resulting  low  standard  of  living,  the  wonder  is  not 
that  Negroes  have  a  uniformly  higher  death-rate  than  whites  in  the 
cities  and  towns,  but  that  the  mortality  is  as  small  as  it  is  and 
shows  signs  of  decrease.  Forced  by  municipal  indifferences  or  design 
in  many  cities  to  live  in  districts  contaminated  by  houses  and  per- 
sons of  ill-fame;  unable  often  to  drive  from  their  residential  districts 
saloons  and  dens  of  vice;  feeling  the  pressure  of  the  less  moral  ele- 
ments of  both  races,  and  feeling  that  weight  of  police  and  courts 
which  the  poor  and  the  oppressed  undoubtedly  experience,  the  mar- 
vel is  not  that  the  criminal  records  outrun  other  elements  of  our 
urban  population,  but  that  impartial  observers  both  North  and 
South  testify  to  the  large  law-abiding  Negro  citizenship,  and  to  the 
thousands  of  pure  individuals,  Christian  homes  and  communities.1 

In  speaking  of  the  Negro  death-rate  in  Southern  cities,  Fred- 
erick L.  Hoffman,  who  cannot  be  charged  with  favorable  bias,  said 
in  1906,  "without  exception,  the  death-rates  are  materially  in  excess 
of  the  corresponding  death-rates  of  the  white  population,  but  there 
has  also  been  in  this  case  a  persistent  decline  in  the  general  death- 
rate  from  38.1  per  1,000  in  1871  to  32.9  in  1886  and  28.1  in  1904." 
Data  from  other  investigations  for  five  Southern  cities  (three  cities 
not  included  in  Mr.  Hoffman's  studies)  show  results  similar  to  his. 
Figures  for  the  death-rate  of  Negroes  in  Northern  cities  are  not 
available. 

Infant  mortality,  tuberculosis  and  pneumonia  are  chief  causes 
of  the  excessive  death-rate.  Negroes  in  cities  have  an  excessive 
number  of  female  breadwinners,  and  a  large  proportion  of  these 
are  married  women.  The  neglect  of  the  child,  while  the  mother 
is  "working  out"  during  the  long  hours  of  domestic  service,  and 
ignorance  of  child  nurture  are  the  ingredients  of  the  soothing-syrup 

1  The  writer  has  had  to  condense  into  a  few  clauses  here  the  conclusions 
from  a  large  amount  of  testimony  and  facts. 


116  THE  ANNALS  OP  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

which  lulls  thousands  of  small  children  into  the  sleep  of  death. 
Undernourishment  due  to  low  pay,  bad  housing,  poor  sanitation, 
ignorant  fear  of  "night  air"  and  lack  of  understanding  of  the  dan- 
gers of  infection  make  Negroes  the  prey  of  diseases  now  clearly 
proven  preventable.  With  an  aroused  public  conscience  for  sani- 
tation and  adequate  leadership  in  education  on  matters  of  health 
these  conditions  are  gradually  removable. 

The  mental  and  moral  conditions  of  a  people  cannot  be  shown 
by  case  counting.  Tables  of  criminal  statistics  are  quite  as  much 
a  commentary  on  the  culture  conditions  of  the  whole  community 
as  upon  the  accused  Negro.  The  best  study  of  crime  in  cities  showed 
that  down  to  1903  there  was  a  general  tendency  toward  a  decrease 
among  Negroes.  Available  testimony  for  Southern  cities  from  the 
days  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  superintendence  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Negro,  even  under  an  archaic 
penal  system.  Personal  observation  for  fifteen  years  during  resi- 
dence in  and  repeated  visits  to  a  score  of  the  larger  cities  and  a 
number  of  the  smaller  ones,  leave  the  writer  with  a  firm  conviction 
of  decided  advancement.  The  intelligence  and  character  demanded 
of  ministers,  teachers,  doctors,  lawyers  and  other  professional  classes, 
the  drawing  of  social  lines  based  upon  individual  worth,  the  im- 
proved type  of  amusement  and  recreation  frequently  in  evidence 
and  similar  manifestations  are  a  part  of  the  barometer  which  clearly 
shows  progress. 

4-  The  Sequel  in  Miscellaneous  Conditions. 

To  make  the  view  of  urban  situation  among  Negroes  full  and 
clear,  a  number  of  conditions  which  exist  in  some  cities  but  are 
absent  in  others  should  be  included  in  the  list.  In  many  cities  the 
sequel  of  segregation  means  less  effective  police  patrol  and  inade- 
quate fire  protection;  in  others  it  means  unpaved  streets,  the  absence 
of  proper  sewerage  and  lack  of  other  sanitary  supervision  and  re- 
quirements. 

The  provision  which  people  have  for  the  play  life  of  their  chil- 
dren and  themselves  is  nearly  as  important  as  the  conditions  of 
labor.  Facilities  for  amusement  and  recreation,  then,  are  of  great 
importance  to  the  Negro.  Wholesome  amusement  for  all  the  people 
is  just  beginning  to  receive  deserved  attention.  But  the  Negro  is 


CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  THE  CITIES  117 

in  danger  of  being  left  out  of  account  in  the  movement.  Play- 
grounds in  Negro  neighborhoods  are  so  rare  as  to  excite  curiosity, 
and  organized  play  is  just  being  heard  of  in  the  Negro  world.  There 
is  hardly  a  city  where  unhindered  access  to  theatres  and  moving 
picture  shows  exists.  In  a  few  Southern  cities  "Negro  parks"  of 
fair  attractiveness  are  being  provided  because  exclusion  from  public 
parks  used  by  whites  has  been  the  custom.  Here  and  there  enter- 
prising Negroes  are  starting  playhouses  for  their  own  people. 

In  the  provision  for  education,  the  opportunity  of  the  city 
Negro  is  much  greater  than  that  of  his  rural  brother.  Yet,  while 
one  rejoices  over  this  fact,  candor  compels  consideration  of  the  rela- 
tive educational  chances  of  the  black  boy  and  the  white  one.  Some 
of  the  Northern  cities  which  have  no  official  or  actual  separation  in 
public  schools  may  be  passed  without  scrutiny.  In  others  and  in 
some  border  cities  like  St.  Louis,  Washington  and  Louisville,  where 
there  are  separate  schools,  the  standards  and  equipment  for  the 
Negro  schools  compare  favorably.  Also  a  large  need  of  praise  is 
due  Southern  communities  for  the  great  advance  which  has  been 
made  in  public  opinion  and  financial  support  for  Negro  education. 
Yet,  in  many  cities,  although  local  pride  may  apply  names  and  give 
glowing  descriptions,  those  who  have  seen  the  public  school  systems 
at  close  range  know  that  they  are  poor  compared  with  white  schools 
in  the  same  places.  The  bona-fide  Negro  public  high  schools  in 
the  cities  of  the  South  can  be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  the  two 
hands.  Public  schools  all  over  the  land  have  been  tardy  to  the  call 
of  the  educational  needs  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  The  "dead 
hand"  of  past  aims,  content  and  methods  of  education  still  clasps 
many  communities  in  its  icy  grip.  It  is  well-nigh  impossible  to 
tell  in  a  generalized  statement  the  significance  of  this  condition  as 
applied  to  the  city  Negro.  The  hopeful  sign  of  the  situation  is  the 
awakening  of  the  South  to  the  need. 

IV.    SUGGESTIONS   FOR   SOLUTION 

The  recital  of  the  foregoing  facts  and  conclusions  would  be  of 
little  consequence  unless  it  led  somewhere.  The  summary  of  the 
discussion  presents  a  clear  case  of  a  large  nation-wide  Negro  migra- 
tion to  towns  and  cities,  such  as  is  taking  place  among  the  entire 
people;  a  segregation  within  the  city  of  Negroes  into  distinct  neigh- 


118  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

borhoods  with  a  decreasing  contact  with  the  larger  community  and 
its  impulses;  accompanying  housing,  economic,  health,  moral,  edu- 
cational and  other  conditions  which  are  more  critical  and  are  receiv- 
ing less  attention  than  similar  problems  among  the  white  people. 
With  such  a  problem  before  us,  what  should  be  done? 

1.  There  should  be  an  organized  effort  to  acquaint  the  Negro 
in  the  country  with  the  desirability  of  his  remaining  where  he  is 
unless  by  education  and  training  he  is  prepared  to  meet  the  exactions 
of  adjustments  to  city  life.     The  roseate  picture  of  city  existence 
should  be  corrected.     Simultaneously  with  the  agricultural  and  other 
improvements  of  country  life  calculated  to  make  its  economic  and 
social  conditions  more  attractive  should  go  an  effort  to  minimize 
the  activities  of  labor  agents,  employment  agency  sharks  and  the 
other  influences  that  lure  the  rustics  from  home. 

2.  Recognizing  that  already  more  than  two  score  cities  and 
towns  have  large  Negro  populations  in  the  first  stages  of  adjustment, 
organized  effort  should  be  made  to  help  the  Negro  to  learn  to  live 
in  town.     The  thougktful  white  and  colored  people  in  each  com- 
munity will  have  to  break  the  bonds  of  this  increasing  segregation 
and  come  into  some  form  of  organized  community  cooperation.    The 
danger  most  to  be  feared  is  antagonism  between  the  better  element  of 
both  races,  because  they  may  not  know  and  understand  each  other. 
The  meeting  on  the  high  levels  of  mutual  sympathy  and  cooperation 
will  work  wonders  with  prejudices  and  conventional  barriers. 

3.  The  cooperative  movement  of  the  white  and  colored  citizens 
of  each  locality  should  work  out  a  community  program  for  the 
neighborhood,  housing,  economic,  educational,  religious  and  other 
improvement  of  the  Negro.     The  tune  is  at  hand  when  we  should 
not  let  this  matter  longer  drift. 

4.  Such  a  movement  should  sooner  or  later  become  conscious 
of  the  national  character  of  the  problem  and  the  towns  and  cities 
should  unite  for  the  exchange  of  plans,  methods  and  experience 
and  for  general  cooperation  and  for  developing  needed  enthusiasm. 

5.  The  Negro  must  have  more  and  better  trained  leadership 
in  these  local  situations.     Slowly  but  surely  we  are  listening  to  the 
lesson  of  group  psychology  and  common  sense  and  are  beginning 
to  use  the  most  direct  way  of  influencing  the  customs  and  habits 
of  a  people  by  giving  them  teachers  and  exemplars  of  their  own 
kind.     If  the  Negro  is  to  be  lifted  to  the  full  stature  of  American 


CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES  IN  THE  CITIES  119 

civilization,  he  must  have  leaders — wise,  well-trained  leaders — who 
are  learned  in  the  American  ways  of  thinking  and  of  doing  things. 
And  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  the  Negro  himself  has  valua- 
ble contributions  to  make  to  American  life. 

6.  The  final  suggestion  is  that  the  white  people  of  each  locality 
can  best  foster  mutual  confidence  and  cooperation  of  Negroes  by 
according  them  impartial  community  justice.  This  means  "a  square 
deal"  in  industry,  in  education  and  hi  other  parts  of  the  common 
life.  It  means  equality  of  opportunity. 

These  conditions  among  Negroes  in  the  cities  arise  as  much 
from  the  many  changes  which  are  taking  place  in  the  life  of  the 
Negro  as  from  the  changes  taking  place  in  the  life  of  the  nation. 
The  Negro  is  awakening  to  a  race  consciousness  and  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  American  citizenship.  His  migration  is  a  part  of  his 
groping  efforts  to  better  his  condition;  he  is  trying  to  engage  hi 
industry  and  commerce  and  is  accumulating  wealth.  Above  the 
ruins  of  the  slave  cabin  he  is  building  homes.  Upon  the  ash-cleared 
hearth  of  the  chattel  he  is  developing  the  sacredness  of  family  rela- 
tionships. Where  once  he  toiled  that  the  children  of  others  might 
have  leisure  and  learning,  he  is  trying  to  erect  schools  and  colleges 
for  the  education  of  his  own.  In  lieu  of  the  superstition  and  ignor- 
ance which  savagery  and  serfdom  had  made  his  daily  portion,  the 
Negro  is  trying  to  cultivate  an  ethical  and  religious  life  beautiful  in 
holiness  and  achieving  hi  sendee.  In  these  efforts  for  self-realiza- 
tion hi  the  city  the  Negro  needs  the  fair  dealing,  the  sympathy  and 
the  cooperation  of  his  white  brother.  For  the  problem  of  his  ad- 
justment is  only  a  part  of  the  great  human  problem  of  justice  for 
the  handicapped  in  democratic  America. 


CHURCHES  AND  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS 

BY  J.  J.  WATSON,  PH.D., 
Macon,  Ga. 

The  first  thing  to  be  kept  in  mind  concerning  the  Negro  church 
is  that  it  is  the  only  institution  which  the  Negro  may  call  his  own. 
If  he  is  a  teacher  he  must  be  examined  by  the  white  school  board, 
teach  in  a  building  owned  by  the  white  county  officials,  and  receive 
his  salary  from  the  white  superintendent.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
colored  lawyer  or  doctor;  he  must  receive  from  the  white  authorities 
his  license  to  practice  law  or  medicine,  and  this  is  granted  under 
conditions  formulated  entirely  independently  of  the  Negro.  But 
with  the  church  it  is  altogether  different.  So  long  as  the  Negro 
conforms  to  the  general  laws  of  the  state  he  is  absolutely  free  to 
direct  his  church  affairs  as  he  sees  fit.  Error  may  be  taught,  immo- 
rality may  thrive,  and  funds  be  misappropriated,  all  without  feeling 
the  pressure  of  any  outside  authority.  A  new  church  may  be  built, 
a  new  pastor  installed,  new  members  received  and  all  the  machinery 
of  the  church  set  in  motion  without  ever  consulting  any  white  per- 
son. In  a  word,  the  church  is  the  Negro's  own  institution,  devel- 
oped according  to  his  own  standards,  and  more  nearly  than  anything 
else  represents  the  real  life  of  the  race. 

Another  primary  factor  is  the  Negro's  religious  temperament. 
He  has  the  simplicity  of  a  child  in  the  presence  of  the  unseen  forces 
of  life,  and  readily  yields  to  the  demands  of  reverence  and  worship. 
Whatever  is  mysterious  appeals  to  his  uncultivated  mind.  In  all 
matters  concerning  death  and  the  future  life  his  attitude  is  one  of 
dread  and  gloom.  His  feelings  are  easily  aroused,  not  so  much  by 
sight  or  thought  as  by  sound.  Whatever  is  weird  or  sad  awakens 
an  instinctive  response  in  the  bosom  of  the  colored  man.  All  of 
his  songs  and  most  of  his  preaching  illustrate  this  primary  fact; 
and  the  preacher  who  would  teach  his  people  must  clothe  his  mes- 
sage in  picturesque  forms  and  deliver  it  in  that  peculiar  sing-song 
voice  so  irresistible  to  the  average  Negro.  Many  times  I  have 
heard  the  better  type  of  preacher  trying  to  impress  some  message 

120 


CHURCHES  AND  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  121 

upon  his  people  with  no  response  whatever  until  he  abandoned  the 
formal  presentation  and  took  up  the  weird  swinging  rhythm  so  dear 
to  the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  The  effect  is  always  instantaneous.  It 
is  like  the  words  of  an  old  song  to  a  man  far  from  home.  The  first 
note  is  sufficient  to  stir  the  inmost  springs  of  his  emotional  life. 
It  is  this  appeal  to  the  emotions  which  makes  the  church  and  the 
religious  ceremony  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  Negro.  The  church 
is  the  one  place  where  he  can  pour  out  his  heart  and  revel  in  the 
unchecked  flow  of  feeling  and  sentiment. 

The  Negro  is  often  criticised  for  this  emotionalism,  and  the 
colored  preacher  blamed  for  appealing  to  it  in  his  sermons,  but  it 
is  very  doubtful  whether  the  race  is  at  present  prepared  for  any- 
thing else.  In  the  best  educated  circles,  of  course,  there  are  many 
who  can  enjoy  an  intellectual  sermon;  but  congregations  in  which 
the  educated  class  predominates  are  very  scarce,  and  even  in  the 
large  cities  today  the  preacher  who  appeals  to  the  emotions  will 
soon  win  over  to  his  church  many  of  the  members  of  his  more 
scholarly  brother  in  the  next  block.  Few  things  in  the  colored  min- 
istry today  are  more  pathetic  than  the  struggle  of  a  conscientious 
pastor  trying  to  protect  his  people  and  prevent  them  from  running 
off  after  some  sensational  preacher  who  has  just  come  to  town. 
This  situation  prevails  wherever  the  Negro  lives  today,  and  in  more 
than  one  large  church  in  Philadelphia  is  a  very  pressing  problem. 
Unless  a  colored  preacher  has  some  strong  institutional  organization 
or  a  very  powerful  personal  attraction  he  is  almost  compelled  to 
yield  to  this  elemental  demand  of  his  race.  He  must  first  of  all 
make  them  "feel  good,"  and  if  in  doing  so  he  can  impress  some 
valuable  truth  he  is  fortunate. 

The  power  of  the  emotional  appeal  has  only  been  strengthened 
by  the  traditional  training  of  the  race.  Through  his  whole  history 
the  Negro  has  been  taught  to  fear  the  powers  of  the  spirit  world, 
the  unseen  forces  have  been  held  up  to  him  as  directing  and  con- 
trolling all  his  life,  and  from  the  days  of  the  African  fetich  doctor 
until  now  the  tendency  of  his  religious  teaching  has  been  to  keep 
alive  the  feeling  of  dependence  upon  the  divine  powers.  His  lot 
whether  in  Africa  or  in  America  has  never  been  easy  and  his  daily 
needs  have  driven  him  to  look  to  some  other  source  for  comfort 
and  help.  The  need  of  heaven  as  the  place  for  the  righting  of  all 
wrongs  and  the  enjoyment  of  all  things  denied  him  here  has  been 


122  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

ever  present,  and  the  church  as  the  medium  of  attainment  for  all 
these  desires  has  had  a  tremendous  power  over  the  life  of  the  race. 

Before  the  Civil  War  nearly  all  Negroes  were  members  of  the 
white  church,  and  from  their  place  in  the  rear  or  in  the  balcony 
listened  to  the  same  preaching  as  the  whites.  But  with  emancipa- 
tion everything  was  changed  rapidly.  Separate  colored  churches 
sprang  up  everywhere,  and  the  colored  members  rapidly  withdrew 
from  the  white  churches  to  join  those  of  their  own  color. 

In  organization  and  administration  these  colored  churches  fol- 
lowed closely  the  forms  of  the  white  churches  from  which  they 
sprang  and  which  were  their  only  models.  As  a  rule  the  Catholics 
and  Episcopalians  have  retained  their  colored  members  as  regular 
members  of  the  white  churches.  The  Presbyterians,  Congregation- 
alists,  and  Northern  Methodists  have  allowed  them  to  form  separate 
churches  under  control  of  the  whites.  The  colored  Baptists,  how- 
ever, and  most  of  the  colored  Methodists  have  formed  churches 
entirely  independent  of  white  control,  a  fact  which  largely  accounts 
for  the  larger  numbers  in  these  denominations. 

The  people  as  a  rule  love  the  freedom  of  their  own  institutions, 
and  the  colored  preacher  has  not  cared  or  has  not  been  able  to 
conform  to  the  more  strict  requirement  of  a  church  controlled  by 
the  whites  when  the  doors  of  his  own  independent  church  are  open 
to  him  without  any  specific  training  or  ability  on  his  part.  There 
are  of  course  in  the  Methodist  and  Baptist  church  many  educated 
preachers,  and  the  number  is  increasing,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  as  a  rule  the  better  trained  men  are  in  the  other  denominations. 
In  the  colored  Presbyterian  or  Congregational  church  today  one 
will  usually  find  a  well-trained  preacher,  conducting  an  orderly  serv- 
ice very  much  after  the  fashion  of  the  white  church,  but  almost 
invariably  with  a  small  congregation.  If  one  would  see  the  typical 
Negro  congregation  he  must  go  to  the  Baptist  or  Methodist  church 
perhaps  on  the  same  block.  Here  he  will  probably  find  a  preacher 
with  mediocre  ability  and  training,  following  the  traditional  lines 
of  preaching,  but  with  a  house  full  of  people  from  all  classes  of  life. 
As  a  distinct  institution,  therefore,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
Baptist  or  Methodist  is  the  typical  Negro  church. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  total  number  of  colored  church 
members  was  perhaps  700,000,  of  which  the  Baptists  claimed  350,000 
and  the  Methodists  270,000,  most  of  whom  were  still  in  the  white 


CHURCHES  AND  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  123 

churches.  Today  the  colored  Baptists  have  their  own  local  asso- 
ciations, state  conventions,  and  the  national  convention  formed  as 
early  as  1886.  They  report  for  last  year  17,000  churches,  12,000 
ministers,  and  2,000,000  communicants.  The  colored  Methodists 
have  had  a  similar  growth,  and  today  the  five  separate  branches 
report  a  membership  of  about  1,500,000. 

This  complete  separation  opens  up  to  the  ambitious  preacher 
an  opportunity  not  found  in  the  churches  under  white  control.  It 
has  the  advantage  of  developing  initiative  on  the  part  of  both  pastor 
and  people  and  trains  them  in  the  habits  of  self-control  as  nothing 
else  in  the  reach  of  the  race.  But  it  has  also  been  attended  with 
certain  definite  evils.  The  freedom  from  white  supervision  has  at 
times  encouraged  excesses  which  are  harmful  to  all.  The  Negro, 
like  most  of  us,  loves  the  spoils  of  office,  and  the  titles  of  the  min- 
istry have  a  peculiar  fascination  for  him.  To  be  called  "reverend" 
is  the  joy  of  his  life;  he  will  do  almost  anything  to  secure  the  title 
of  "D.D.,"  and  if  by  any  means  he  may  become  "president"  of 
some  Baptist  body  or  "elder"  or  "bishop"  in  the  Methodist  church, 
the  dream  of  his  life  has  been  realized.  In  this  he  differs  very 
little  from  some  of  his  white  brethren,  but  the  possibility  of  secur- 
ing these  honors  has  been  a  peculiar  temptation  to  him.  He  has 
often  prostituted  religion  to  personal  ambition,  and  the  highest 
offices  have  been  too  often  bestowed  upon  men  of  unworthy  char- 
acter who  were  able  by  political  astuteness  to  control  a  majority. 
To  verify  this  one  has  only  to  have  a  confidential  talk  with  almost 
any  colored  preacher  following  some  important  church  election.  The 
evil  is  a  definite  one  and  is  to  be  remedied  not  by  taking  from  them 
the  privilege  of  conducting  their  own  affairs  but  by  raising  the 
standard  of  character  throughout  the  rank  and  file  of  the  race. 

The  Negro  church  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  a  theology.  The 
teachings  of  the  colored  pulpit  are  the  traditional  doctrines  of  the 
white  church  handed  down  through  white  teachers  and  fostered  by 
current  commentaries  available  for  the  colored  preacher.  The  care 
of  God  for  the  needy,  the  substitutionary  atonement  of  Jesus,  the 
verbal  inspiration  of  the  Bible  are  the  main  lines  of  theological 
thought.  These  things  the  average  preacher  accepts  without  mak- 
ing any  effort  to  establish  their  truth  or  falsity.  What  the  average 
negro  wants  is  not  to  test  the  truth  of  a  proposition  but  to  preach 
an  "effective"  sermon.  He  is  willing  enough  to  accept  what  others 


124  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

have  said  as  true  so  long  as  he  can  use  it  effectively.  I  have  talked 
with  many  of  the  best  trained  preachers  of  the  colored  church  and 
I  have  yet  to  find  one  who  in  any  way  is  bothering  himself  with  the 
current  problems  of  theology.  One  of  these  men  told  me  that  it 
would  do  no  good  to  keep  up  with  current  questions  as  his  people 
were  not  interested  in  them  and  could  not  profit  by  their  discus- 
sion. What  pleases  the  average  congregation  is  the  recital  of  the 
Bible  stories,  and  the  preacher  usually  conforms  to  this  demand. 

Then  too  the  various  questions  which  divide  the  white  congre- 
gations have  very  little  real  meaning  for  the  Negro.  He  joins  the 
Methodist  or  Baptist  church  almost  indiscriminately  as  one  is  nearer 
home,  has  a  better  building  or  a  better  preacher,  or  is  made  up  of 
his  associates.  There  is  loyalty  to  one's  denomination  but  it  is  not 
theological.  The  average  Negro  preacher  never  preaches  a  strictly 
denominational  sermon  and  cares  very  little  what  his  people  believe 
so  long  as  they  become  members  of  his  church.  All  love  the  spec- 
tacular elements  in  the  communion  and  the  "baptizin,"  but  care 
very  little  for  what  lies  back  of  them.  Only  recently  I  saw  a 
Baptist  preacher  conducting  a  Methodist  protracted  meeting  in  a 
Methodist  church.  The  Methodist  could  not  come;  the  Baptist 
was  a  good  preacher;  so  why  not  use  him?  The  Methodists  saw  no 
objection  and  supported  him  loyally. 

In  church  administration  the  Negro  is  more  original  and  often 
very  effective.  His  primary  problem  is  one  of  finances.  The  preacher 
may  not  care  what  his  people  believe;  he  may  not  even  care  what 
they  do:  but  he  must  be  vitally  interested  in  the  finances  of  the 
church.  In  this  particular  direction  the  Negro  has  been  unusually 
active.  New  churches  are  constantly  springing  up  and  in  most 
places  they  compare  very  favorably  with  the  average  white  church. 
The  old  rude  structures  are  giving  way  for  the  modern  frame  or 
brick  building,  nicely  painted,  furnished  with  modern  pews,  often 
with  pipe  organ  and  all  that  goes  to  make  up  a  well  ordered  church 
equipment.  Quite  naturally  therefore  the  problem  of  the  church 
debt  has  come  to  be  a  standing  burden  for  the  colored  pastor  as  is 
often  the  case  with  his  white  brother. 

In  addition  to  his  church  building  the  Negro  is  today  spending 
quite  a  sum  of  money  in  purely  altruistic  endeavor.  Hospitals  and 
rescue  homes  are  increasing;  denominational  schools  receive  most 
of  their  funds  from  the  churches,  and  almost  every  colored  denomi- 
nation supports  one  or  more  foreign  missionaries  in  the  West  Indies 


CHURCHES  AND  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  125 

and  in  various  parts  of  Africa.  These  activities  mark  out  the  lines 
along  which  the  church  is  working  and  arc  a  distinctly  hopeful  sign, 
but  they  entail  heavy  expense  upon  a  people  poorly  equipped  to 
bear  them.  When  these  items  are  added  to  the  regular  church 
expenses  and  preacher's  salary,  the  financial  problem  assumes  very 
great  importance  and  taxes  the  ingenuity  of  the  most  efficient 
pastor. 

The  first  thing  of  course  which  the  pastor  must  do  to  meet  the 
demand  is  to  get  the  crowds.  To  do  this  he  must  be  able  to  make 
them  "enjoy"  the  service  by  preaching  sensational  sermons.  Noth- 
ing else  is  so  effective  in  bringing  the  crowds,  and  in  a  way  this  is 
the  most  important  factor  in  the  pastor's  work. 

Furthermore  he  must  not  be  too  strict  in  discipline.  Many  of 
his  best  paying  members  belong  to  the  questionable  class  and  are 
known  to  be  earning  money  in  ways  not  approved  by  the  teachings 
of  the  church.  These  he  can  not  afford  to  alienate;  it  would  ruin  his 
church.  And  many  a  preacher  has  been  forced  to  accommodate  his 
teaching  and  administration  to  such  persons  when,  if  he  had  been 
free,  his  work  would  have  borne  a  different  stamp.  On  the  other 
hand  there  are  many  according  to  the  statements  of  some  of  their 
best  men,  who  deliberately  take  advantage  of  this  situation  to  bring 
into  their  churches  a  crowd  of  people  who  are  willing  to  pay  liberally 
to  be  let  alone  in  their  personal  lives  and  who  at  the  same  time  are 
willing  to  let  the  preacher  alone  in  his  own  shortcomings.  Just 
how  far  this  is  true  no  one  can  tell,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
some  of  the  pastors  of  the  largest  churches  maintain  their  places 
because  they  have  around  them  church  officials  who  support  the 
pastor  in  the  toleration  of  moral  laxness  on  the  part  of  both  pastor 
and  people.  They  feel  repaid  by  the  fact  that,  by  having  a  big 
church  which  contributes  liberally,  the  pastor  gets  a  prominent  place 
in  the  denomination  and  the  glory  is  reflected  back  upon  his  mem- 
bers. Perhaps  there  are  very  few  pastors  who  do  not  feel  the  pres- 
sure of  this  condition,  but  while  many  are  striving  nobly  against 
it  many  others  seem  to  welcome  it  for  the  sake  of  their  own  ambi- 
tions. It  is  a  place  where  the  need  of  money  and  the  love  of  power 
have  become  dominant. 

The  next  great  problem  of  the  colored  preacher  is  to  meet  the 
religious  needs  of  his  people.  This  would  seem  to  be  first,  but  one 
who  has  watched  the  work  of  the  colored  church  is  compelled  to 
conclude  that  the  question  of  finance  comes  first  so  far  as  any  defi- 


126  THE  ANNALS  or  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

nite  plans  are  followed.  But  the  conscientious  preacher  finds  among 
his  people  much  need  for  the  more  personal  activity  of  the  minister 
and  often  his  work  in  this  particular  is  very  effective.  The  Negro 
works  all  the  week  under  discouraging  conditions,  reminded  on  every 
hand  of  his  inferiority,  ashamed  of  his  racial  history,  and  suffering 
for  many  things  of  which  he  is  innocent.  Too  often  ignorance  and 
vice  crowd  out  of  his  life  what  little  of  light  might  otherwise  enter. 
So  on  Sunday  the  preacher  faces  his  people  knowing  that  most  of 
them  need  encouragement  and  a  glimpse  of  something  better  than 
they  have  known  through  the  week.  It  is  not  surprising  therefore 
that  much  of  the  preaching  takes  this  form  with  the  definite  purpose 
of  enabling  the  congregation  to  forget  their  grievances  and,  for  a 
short  while  at  least,  to  feel  that  there  is  some  one  who  does 
care  for  them  and  who  does  not  blame  them  for  being  black.  This 
Sunday  religion  of  the  race  is  valuable  if  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  it  encourages  and  satisfies  as  nothing  else  does  or  can  the  often 
unexpressed  hopes  of  the  race.  In  the  hands  of  an  unscrupulous 
preacher,  of  course,  the  gospel  of  comfort  degenerates  into  a  dis- 
gusting effort  to  "stir  up"  the  people.  But  on  the  part  of  their 
best  men  it  brings  to  lives  accustomed  to  harshness  and  injustice 
a  glimpse  at  least  of  tenderness  and  love.  In  so  far  the  Sunday 
preaching  of  the  average  Negro  church  is  valuable.  But  when  it 
comes  to  the  actual  religious  instruction  given  and  the  motive  power 
for  better  living  it  is  very  difficult  to  speak  encouragingly  or  accu- 
rately. We  so  readily  generalize  concerning  the  Negro's  life  and 
know  in  reality  so  little  about  it.  His  actual  religious  life  is  bound 
up  with  all  his  activities  and  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  analyze. 
A  few  things  however  are  evident. 

Among  a  large  number  of  older  people  both  white  and  black 
there  is  the  definite  conviction  that  the  present  generation  of  Negroes 
is  hopelessly  degenerate,  as  compared  with  the  devout  life  of  the 
slave.  One  of  the  most  common  notes  in  present  day  preaching  is 
that  the  younger  set  of  Negroes  can  not  be  trusted,  and  that  their 
religion  is  worthless.  It  used  to  be  possible,  say  the  older  ones,  to 
trust  a  member  of  the  church,  but  now  there  is  no  difference.  Church 
members  and  non-church  members  are  doing  the  same  thing — trying 
to  get  the  advantage  of  the  other  fellow. 

Part  of  this  distrust  is  due  to  the  well-known  tendency  to 
glorify  the  good  old  days  of  the  slave.  But  part  of  it  is  well  founded. 


CHURCHES  AND  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  127 

The  younger  Negro,  faced  with  the  sudden  readjustment  coming 
with  emancipation,  has  not  yet  been  able  to  find  a  secure  moral  or 
religious  footing.  He  is  engaged  in  a  long,  hard,  struggle,  in  which 
he  started  with  poor  equipment.  He  has  been  asked  to  make  the 
change  from  irresponsibility  to  responsibility,  adopt  a  new  standard 
of  ethics  and  make  it  effective  in  his  life,  when  his  traditions  and 
inclinations  make  that  well-nigh  impossible.  If  many  of  the  first 
few  generations  fail  one  need  not  be  surprised.  We  can  only  hope 
that  the  condition  is  temporary  and  that  a  new  and  educated  gen- 
eration will  find  religion  and  morals  more  vitally  related  in  every 
day  life. 

On  the  other  hand  the  church  itself  is  largely  responsible  for 
much  of  the  shortcomings  of  the  younger  set.  All  sorts  of  pressure 
is  brought  to  bear  in  getting  them  into  the  church,  very  little  test 
of  fitness  is  applied,  and  the  young  member  comes  in  feeling  that 
if  _he  has  been  "sorry"  for  his  misdeeds,  and  will  keep  up  his  church 
dues,  he  is  all  right.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  church  rivalry 
for  numbers  lies  at  the  basis  of  much  of  this  laxness,  and  if  the 
younger  set  come  in  and  remain  without  shaping  their  lives  to  the 
higher  standard  of  religious  duty,  the  blame  is  certainly  not  all 
with  them.  They  are  surrounded  with  evidences  of  laxity  in  the 
moral  conceptions  of  the  others  and  it  is  little  wonder  if  they  fail. 

Then  too  there  are  many  things  now  to  detract  from  the  inter- 
est in  church  life.  The  secret  order  bids  for  a  large  amount  of  the 
man's  time,  new  avenues  of  entertainment  are  constantly  opening, 
and  with  the  growing  distrust  of  the  motives  of  the  ministry  which 
places  such  persistent  emphasis  upon  money,  tend  inevitably  to 
weaken  the  hold  of  religion  upon  the  life  of  the  race.  So  that  one 
feels  disposed  to  agree  that  in  many  cases  the  judgment  is  correct — 
the  religion  of  the  average  young  Negro  and  of  many  older  ones  as 
well  is  of  very  questionable  value. 

Just  how  conditions  may  be  improved  would  be  exceedingly 
difficult  to  say.  But  there  is  one  avenue  through  which  much  im- 
provement may  be  promised.  The  Negro  is  dependent  largely  for 
his  advancement  upon  the  example  and  encouragement  of  the  whites. 
And  one  of  the  greatest  stumbling  blocks  in  the  way  of  his  religious 
development  is  what  he  feels  to  be  the  constant  insincerity  of  the 
whites.  It  will  do  the  average  Negro  very  little  good  to  learn  that 
the  white  man  has  given  a  thousand  dollars  to  convert  the  natives 


128  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

in  Africa  while  at  the  same  time  he  is  growing  rich  by  exploiting  his 
own  colored  employes.  Strict  justice  and  fairness  on  the  part  of 
the  white  church  member  will  make  it  easier  for  the  colored  man 
to  live  up  to  his  religious  obligations. 

Furthermore  if  vital  Christianity  is  to  prevail  in  the  Negro's 
life  he  must  have  a  larger  part  in  shaping  the  policies  under  which 
he  is  to  labor.  After  many  inquiries  I  have  found  almost  no  instance 
where  the  colored  ministers  and  leaders  have  been  asked  to  take 
part  in  carrying  out  any  program  for  civic  betterment  in  their  city 
or  town.  Usually  the  program  is  mapped  out  by  the  white  leaders 
and  after  it  has  been  put  through  the  colored  leaders  are  expected 
to  bring  their  people  up  to  the  new  requirement.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  of  the  most  hopeless  conditions  that  I  have  seen  prevail 
where  the  protests  of  the  conscientious  colored  men  have  been  con- 
stantly made  against  the  presence  of  cheap  dives  in  their  community 
only  to  be  ignored  by  the  white  political  machine.  It  is  hardly 
fair  for  a  city  government  to  permit  wholesale  temptations  to  be 
placed  in  the  path  of  the  Negro  and  then  blame  him  if  he  falls. 
And  I  doubt  whether  there  is  anywhere  a  more  pathetic  instance 
of  a  losing  struggle  than  is  afforded  by  the  futile  efforts  of  a  Negro 
mother  to  rear  her  children  under  the  conditions  prevailing  in  many 
Negro  sections  of  our  cities. 

It  is  useless  to  criticise  the  Negro  for  the  failure  of  his  religion 
while  the  whites  are  making  it  impossible  for  it  to  be  otherwise. 


NEGRO  ORGANIZATIONS 

BY  B.  F.  LEE,  JR., 
Field  Secretary,  Armstrong  Association  of  Philadelphia. 

The  account  of  the  organized  effort  for  self-help  among  Negroes 
in  this  country,  since  the  Civil  War,  is  incomplete  without  at  least 
a  brief  mention  of  the  ante-bellum  organizations  which  were  the 
forerunners  of  later  efforts,  many  of  which  have  become  national 
in  scope.  When  we  consider  the  difficulties  that  confronted  the 
members  of  the  National  Negro  Convention  of  1830,  the  courage 
of  the  signers  of  the  petition  of  1780  and  the  desperate  bravery  that 
marks  some  of  the  slave  uprisings  we  are  forced  to  wonder  at  the 
pathetic  failure  of  some  of  the  attempts  at  organization  among  the 
freedmen  of  America  since  the  Civil  War. 

The  uprising  of  the  slaves  hi  New  York  in  1812  was  the  first  of 
the  ten  slave  insurrections  recorded  by  American  historians.  There 
were  eight  insurrections  among  the  Southern  Negroes,  some  of  which 
were  well  planned  and  led  by  men  who  were  determined  to  achieve 
freedom  at  all  costs.  The  names  of  "Nat"  Turner,  Denmark  Vasey, 
"General  Gabriel"  and  Peter  Poyas  lend  a  romance  to  American 
history  that  the  later  champions  of  freedom  have  scarcely  equaled. 

The  first  organized  effort  among  freedmen  was  probably  the 
action  of  seven  men  at  Dartmouth,  Mass.,  who,  on  February  10, 
1780,  presented  to  the  governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  a  petition 
against  the  system  of  taxation  without  representation  as  practiced 
against  the  freedmen  of  New  England.  They  asked  that  the  benefits 
of  the  Revolution  be  extended  to  all  free  people  regardless  of  color. 
Many  of  the  later  organizations  among  Negroes  have  had  the  same 
object  in  view,  but  the  daring  of  the  signers  of  this  petition  has 
never  been  surpassed. 

The  first  national  convention  among  Negroes,  was  doubtless  the 
convention  of  freedmen  which  met  at  Philadelphia,  September  15, 
1830.  It  was  the  result  of  an  effort  on  the  part  of  Hezekiah  Grice 
of  Baltimore,  to  call  together  a  group  of  representative  free  Negroes, 
to  consider  the  various  emigration  schemes  recommended  to  the 
American  black  men  of  that  time.  The  organization  adopted  the 

129 


130  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

name  of  Convention  of  Colored  Men.  Among  the  leading  spirits 
were  Rt.  Rev.  Richard  Allen,  founder  and  bishop  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church;  Rt.  Rev.  Christopher  Rush,  one  of  the  founders  and  first 
bishop  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Zion  Connection,  and  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Pen- 
nington,  a  Presbyterian  minister  and  noted  scholar.  Following  a 
two  days'  discussion  the  convention  endorsed  the  Canadian  emigra- 
tion plan,  at  the  same  time  condemning  the  American  Colonization 
Society  and  its  West  African  effort.  The  conference  adjourned  to 
meet  the  first  week  in  June,  1831.  Little  is  known  of  the  next  con- 
ference except  that  several  plans  for  the  betterment  of  freedmen 
were  discussed  and  that  Hezekiah  Grice,  the  founder,  was  not  pres- 
ent. Mr.  Grice  was  at  Baltimore  engaged  in  the  formation  of  what 
was  probably  the  first  legal  rights  convention  among  Negroes  in 
the  United  States.  This  association  proposed  to  ascertain  the  legal 
status  of  the  Afro-American  freedmen.  The  white  attorneys  of  that 
day  refused  to  commit  themselves  on  this  dangerous  question  and 
the  association,  failing  in  its  object,  soon  passed  out  of  existence. 
There  were  other  conventions  following  that  of  1831;  there  is 
an  account  of  one  held  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  September  15,  1864,  over 
which  Frederick  Douglass  presided  with  the  Hon.  John  M.  Langston, 
Wm.  H.  Day,  Jonathan  C.  Gibbs  and  Henry  Highland  Garnett 
among  the  delegates.  Mr.  Douglass  in  an  address  stated  that  the 
purpose  of  the  convention  was  to  "promote  the  freedom,  progress, 
elevation  and  enfranchisement  of  the  entire  colored  people  of  the 
nation."  It  was  resolved  at  this  conference  to  form  an  equal  rights 
committee,  whose  function  was  to  promote  state  equal  rights  leagues 
throughout  the  country.  Several  such  bodies  were  formed  during 
the  latter  half  of  the  sixties;  the  first  of  these  was  the  state  equal 
rights  congress  of  colored  people  of  Pennsylvania,  which  met  at 
Harrisburg,  February  8  to  10,  1865.  The  Harrisburg  meeting  insti- 
tuted a  number  of  subordinate  leagues  and  brought  into  the  work 
men  and  women  from  all  parts  of  the  state.  The  branches  soon 
became  important  factors  of  the  conventions  of  colored  men,  whose 
influence  extends  to  the  present  day.  Wm.  Nesbit,  of  Altoona, 
opened  the  convention  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  January  13,  1869. 
Joseph  Bustill,  of  Philadelphia,  presented  a  protest  against  the  par- 
tial exclusion  of  colored  people  from  the  franchise  after  the  passage 
of  the  fourteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  A  resolution  was  adopted  during  the  session  to  petition  the 


NEGRO  ORGANIZATIONS  131 

Senate  on  behalf  of  the  colored  people.  The  establishment  of  an 
industrial  and  manual  training  school  for  Negroes  at  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  was  also  recommended. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  first  Negro  anti-slavery  conven- 
tion was  held  at  Philadelphia,  June  4,  1832.  The  anti-slavery  con- 
vention also  condemned  the  West  African  colonization  scheme, 
advised  the  colored  people  not  to  emigrate  to  Liberia  or  to  Hayti, 
and  endorsed  the  Canadian  plan.  A  striking  feature  of  this  con- 
vention is  that  they  recommended  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  be  read  at  all  conven- 
tions: "believing  that  the  truths  contained  in  the  former  are  in- 
controvertible and  that  the  latter  guarantees,  in  letter  and  spirit, 
to  every  freeman  in  this  country  all  the  rights  and  immunities  of 
citizenship." 

The  period  immediately  following  the  Civil  War  shows  very 
little  activity  among  Negroes  on  an  independent  basis.  The  con- 
vention of  colored  men  continued  its  sessions  at  irregular  periods, 
and  several  local  associations  with  the  same  object  in  view  came 
into  existence  during  the  latter  part  of  the  sixties.  The  early  recon- 
struction days  were  times  of  cooperation  between  the  Northern  white 
sympathizers  and  the  Negro.  The  active  men  and  women  of  the 
darker  race  gave  the  greater  part  of  their  energy  to  the  more  inten- 
sive work  of  helping  their  recently  liberated  brethren  in  the  Soutk. 
Political  organization  and  local  problems  of  adjustment  consumed 
their  time  and  under  the  new  spirit  of  cooperation  the  national 
questions  and  the  Negroes'  grievances  were  considered  with  the  help 
of  white  organizations.  The  independent  Negro  churches  received 
great  impetus  during  this  period  and  new  ones  sprang  into  existence, 
Negro  secret  and  benevolent  orders  came  into  being,  and  older  ones 
added  a  large  number  of  local  orders  in  the  South.  The  Colored 
Order  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  was  started  in  1864,  the  Independent 
Order  of  St.  Luke  in  1867  and  the  United  Order  of  Moses  in  1868. 
The  first  Colored  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  organized  in  1866,  and  the  first 
students'  association  in  1869.  Wm.  A.  Hunton  was  the  first  colored 
international  secretary.  In  1881  the  National  Women's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  started  its  work  among  colored  women,  Mrs. 
Jane  Kenny,  being  the  first  superintendent.  Mrs.  Frances  E.  Harper 
followed  her  in  1883. 

As  a  result  of  an  inspiration  that  occurred  to  Mr.  T.  Thomas 


132  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

Fortune,  the  Afro-American  Protective  League  came  into  existence. 
Its  first  efforts  were  put  forth  in  1887  and  within  the  year  many 
local  organizations  were  formed.  The  objects  of  the  League  were 
to  protest  against  taxation  without  representation,  to  secure  a  more 
equitable  distribution  of  school  funds,  where  separate  schools  were 
maintained,  and  to  fight  legal  discrimination  and  lynch  law.  They 
further  proposed  to  assist  in  the  emigration  of  Negroes  from  sections 
rendered  intolerable  for  them  through  the  conduct  of  the  lawless 
whites.  They  proposed  to  help  create  a  healthful  sentiment  between 
the  two  races  and  to  promote  the  character  and  reputation  of  the 
colored  people.  At  its  inception  the  League  was  supported  with  a 
great  deal  of  enthusiasm  but  the  second  year  of  its  existence  showed 
a  discouraging  lack  of  interest.  In  the  national  convention  of  1890, 
however,  22  states  and  territories  were  represented  with  141  dele- 
gates seated.  The  League  took  up  the  work  of  the  older  con- 
ventions which  has  continued  to  the  present  day  passing  to  the 
Afro-American  Council,  the  Niagara  Movement  and  the  National 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Colored  People. 

The  American  Association  of  Educators  of  Colored  Youth  held 
its  first  meeting  in  1889.  "Any  person  in  any  way  connected  with 
the  training  of  youth  or  engaged  in  the  welfare  of  the  race  is  eligible 
to  membership."  The  subjects  for  discussion  at  the  annual  meet- 
ings included  "Manual  Training,"  "The  College-bred  Negro,"  "Dis- 
franchisement,"  "The  Teacher  in  Race  Development,"  and  "Indus- 
trial Training  and  Higher  Education."  Its  officers  and  members 
included  most  of  our  noted  educators  and  public  spirited  men  and 
women.  The  names  of  Dr.  Booker  T.  Washington,  Mrs.  Frances 
E.  Harper,  Dr.  W.  E.  B.  DuBois,  and  Mrs.  F.  L.  Coppin  appear 
on  its  reports.  The  Association  offered  the  only  means  for  many 
colored  teachers  to  take  part  in  the  discussion  of  their  school 
problems. 

The  colored  press  convention  held  its  first  great  meeting  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  March  5,  1889.  There  were  press  conventions 
prior  to  this,  but  the  deliberations  of  the  body  at  this  convention, 
the  speeches,  including  the  address  of  welcome  by  the  Hon.  John 
M.  Langston,  marks  it  as  the  real  beginning  of  the  organization. 
The  majority  of  the  Negro  publications  were  represented  and  defi- 
nite plans  for  the  promotion  of  the  Negro  press  were  formulated. 
A  statistical  committee  was  formed  to  tabulate  the  Negro  publica- 


NEGRO  ORGANIZATIONS  133 

tions  for  permanent  reference.  The  methods  of  Negro  journalists 
were  discussed.  A  remarkable  feature  was  that  several  members 
owed  their  eligibility  to  the  fact  that  they  were  employed  on  daily 
papers  as  correspondents  and  as  reporters.  There  had  been  Negro 
press  conferences  previous  to  1889;  there  have  been  conventions  since 
then,  but  the  convention  at  Washington  was  the  first  to  bring  for- 
ward practical  plans  for  cooperation  and  advance  among  the  Negro 
journalists  of  this  country. 

The  Tuskegee  Conference  held  its  first  annual  meeting  at  Tuske- 
gee,  Ala.,  in  1890.  The  organization  of  the  Negro  farmers  for 
mutual  improvement  and  the  study  of  better  methods  through  these 
conferences  has  been  a  great  boon,  especially  to  the  Southern  men 
who  lack  the  contact  so  necessary  for  advance  in  modern  agricultural 
methods.  As  in  other  of  Dr.  Washington's  efforts  the  conference 
is  one  of  the  most  active  organizations  among  colored  people.  Many 
other  institutions  for  colored  people  hold  conferences  each  year. 

The  National  Association  of  Physicians,  Dentists  and  Pharma- 
cists of  the  United  States  of  America  was  organized  in  1895.  Since 
that  time  it  has  extended  its  influence  throughout  the  country. 
Papers  on  technical  subjects,  social  aspects  of  medicine,  the  phy- 
sician and  the  community  and  other  social  and  ethnic  problems  are 
read.  Colored  physicians  and  laymen  attach  great  importance  to 
the  deliberations  of  this  body.  The  good  work  accomplished  through 
its  conventions  cannot  be  overestimated.  Dr.  N.  F.  Mossell,  founder 
of  the  Frederick  Douglass  Memorial  Hospital,  Dr.  Daniel  H.  Wil- 
liams, noted  physician  and  surgeon,  and  Dr.  E.  C.  Bentley,  of  Chicago, 
111.,  are  among  its  members. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  National  Federation  of  Colored  Men 
was  held  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  in  1895.  This  Federation  was  formed 
for  the  social,  economic  and  political  uplift  of  the  colored  people  of 
the  country.  It  is  practically  committed  to  the  Republican  party. 
The  leading  spirits  in  it  are  members  of  the  legal  profession.  Its 
influence  has  not  been  so  extensive  as  was  at  first  predicted,  though 
many  local  Leagues  are  doing  effective  work,  but  the  alliance  of 
these  is  not  a  close  one. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  more  important  organization  than 
the  National  Association  of  Colored  Women  and  its  branches.  The 
Association  was  founded  in  1896.  Some  of  its  functions  are  the 
establishment  of  kindergartens,  mothers'  meetings  and  sewing  classes, 


134  THE  ANNALS  or  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

the  establishment  of  a  sanatorium,  and  a  general  neighborhood  wel- 
fare work.  It  is  pledged  to  combat  the  "jim  crow"  laws,  lynchings, 
and  the  convict  lease  system.  About  800  local  clubs  report  to  the 
National  Association  of  Colored  Women.  A  list  of  200  clubs  was 
selected  and  it  was  found  that  the  membership  of  the  clubs  listed 
was  10,908,  that  they  had  collected  in  two  years  nearly  $82,500, 
that  the  cost  of  the  property  owned  by  these  clubs  is  nearly  $62,000, 
with  a  present  valuation  of  $113,332.25.  Some  of  the  local  clubs 
have  established  reformatories,  old  folks'  homes,  day  nurseries,  work- 
ing girls'  clubs  and  social  settlements.  Among  the  studies  reported 
by  the  locals  were  civics,  art,  literature,  needlework  and  domestic 
science. 

The  American  Negro  Academy,  founded  1895,  is  an  organiza- 
tion perfected  by  Rev.  Alexander  Cromwell,  of  which  Dr.  DuBois 
is  president.  Hon.  Archibald  H.  Grimke,  Prof.  Kelly  Miller  and 
Rev.  Frank  Grimke  are  among  its  members.  The  most  important 
features  of  the  academy,  to  the  race,  are  the  "Occasional  Papers" 
series  published  and  distributed  by  it. 

Closely  akin  to  the  Academy  is  the  American  Negro  Historical 
Society  of  Philadelphia,  founded  in  1897.  "The  object  of  this  society 
is  to  collect  relics,  literature,  and  historical  facts,  relative  to  the 
Negro  race,  illustrating  their  progress  and  development  in  this  coun- 
try. It  is  the  ultimate  purpose  of  this  Society  to  secure  title  to  a 
permanent  home  for  its  meetings  and  a  safe  deposit  for  its  effects." 
Rev.  Henry  L.  Phillips,  Rev.  Matthew  Anderson  and  William  C. 
Bolivar  are  among  its  members. 

The  National  Business  League  is  a  chartered  body  founded  by 
Dr.  Booker  T.  Washington.  The  League  is  the  most  virile  insti- 
tution of  a  purely  secular  nature  among  Negroes  of  the  present 
generation.  Its  first  meeting  was  held  at  Boston  in  1890.  There 
are  11  state  leagues  affiliated  with  it,  221  chartered  local  leagues 
located  in  32  states  of  the  Union,  Jamaica  and  the  British  West 
Indies.  Including  the  chartered  organizations  there  are  450  local 
leagues  allied  with  the  National  body,  4  large  national  associations, 
the  first  of  which  is  the  National  Negro  Bankers'  Association,  which 
was  organized  in  1906;  it  represents  64  Negro  banks,  capitalized  at 
$1,600,000  with  an  annual  business  of  $20,000,000.  The  National 
Association  of  Funeral  Directors  was  organized  in  1907.  Its  mem- 
bers include  men  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  value  of  their 


NEGRO  ORGANIZATIONS  135 

business  cannot  be  expressed  in  less  than  ten  figures.  Some  idea 
of  the  importance  of  the  National  Press  Association,  organized  in 
1909,  may  be  gleaned  from  the  fact  that  there  are  398  periodicals 
published  by  Negroes  in  this  country,  including  249  newspapers. 
There  is  also  a  western  Negro  Press  Association  that  has  done  a 
great  deal  to  stimulate  the  Negro  journalist  of  the  Western  States. 
The  Negro  Bar  Association,  the  fourth  affiliated  national  associa- 
tion, was  also  organized  in  1909  and  includes  among  its  members 
some  of  the  foremost  legal  authorities  of  the  race.  The  Business 
League,  with  its  locals  and  four  great  associations,  is  the  most  exten- 
sive organization  among  Negroes.  It  represents  the  commercial, 
business  and  industrial  activities  of  the  race. 

The  National  League  for  the  Protection  of  Colored  Women, 
organized  in  1906,  has  important  local  branches  in  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia and  Norfolk.  The  objects  of  the  association  are  the  pro- 
tection, industrial  advancement  and  education  of  colored  women. 
Its  most  extensive  work  is  its  free  employment  bureaus,  neighbor- 
hood bouses  and  rescue  work.  Many  cases  of  preventive  work 
among  the  colored  women,  through  Mrs.  Layten,  secretary  of  the 
Philadelphia  Association,  are  known  to  the  writer.  It  is  now  one 
of  the  three  affiliated  bodies  of  the  National  League  on  Urban 
Conditions  among  Negroes  which  was  formed  by  a  group  of  social 
workers  and  philanthropists  of  both  races  who  were  on  the  boards 
of  the  committee  on  urban  conditions  among  Negroes,  the  National 
Association  for  the  Protection  of  Colored  Women  and  the  commit- 
tee for  improving  the  industrial  condition  of  Negroes  in  New  York. 
The  organization  was  perfected  in  1911,  Prof.  E.  R.  A.  Seligman 
is  chairman  and  George  E.  Haynes,  Ph.D.,  director. 

The  Negro  race  conferences  have  been  held  regularly  since  1907. 
They  are  devoted  to  race  adjustment  and  improvement  through 
methods  of  self-help  and  to  securing  better  opportunity  by  destroy- 
ing unfair  sentiment  and  laws  against  the  Negro. 

The  National  Association  of  Teachers  in  Colored  Schools,  organ- 
ized March  5,  1907,  is  similar  to  the  teachers  association  organized 
in  1889.  It  is  a  stronger  organization  and  bids  fair  to  live  long. 

The  Colored  Graduate  Nurses  National  Association  came  into 
existence  in  1908.  Their  conventions  are  devoted  to  the  demon- 
strations of  foods,  local  remedies  and  sick-room  requisites,  practical 
demonstrations  and  papers  upon  such  subjects  as  "Visiting  Nurses 


136  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

in  Public  Schools,"  "Nursing  Among  Mutes,"  and  "The  Ideal  Nurse/' 
as  well  as  papers  by  practicing  physicians. 

The  colored  musical  and  art  clubs  came  together  as  a  national 
association  for  the  first  time  in  1908.  Since  then  they  have  held 
regular  conventions  devoted  to  the  advancement  of  music  and  art. 

The  National  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  the  Negro  is 
championed  by  a  large  number  of  white  friends  of  the  race.  Though 
not  strictly  a  Negro  creation,  its  official  organ,  the  Crisis,  "A  record 
of  the  darker  races,"  is  edited  by  Dr.  W.  E.  B.  DuBois.  The  object 
of  the  Association  is  the  lifting  of  the  Negro  through  the  destruction 
of  the  barriers  of  prejudice,  the  protection  of  those  who  suffer  from 
unfair  or  brutal  treatment  and  the  extension  of  all  educational  facili- 
ties to  include  the  Negro.  The  Association  has  many  active  local 
branches  which  meet  local  difficulties,  calling  in  the  national  body 
when  grave  problems  confront  them.  It  was  founded  in  1909. 

The  National  Business  League  decided  at  their  annual  meeting 
of  1909  to  lend  their  influence  towards  the  celebration  of  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  American  Negroes  from  slavery.  Efforts  were  made 
to  obtain  a  national  appropriation  for  the  celebration,  but,  failing 
to  secure  the  necessary  funds,  state  celebrations  have  been  arranged, 
and  several  states  have  planned  for  expositions.  The  largest  will 
probably  be  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  emancipation  from  slavery 
to  be  held  at  Philadelphia  in  September,  1913. 

In  November,  1909,  a  young  woman  of  Woodstown,  N.  J.,  Miss 
Abigail  Richardson,  conceived  the  idea  of  calling  together  the  colored 
farmers  of  that  vicinity  for  the  purpose  of  improving  their  economic 
condition  through  a  more  extensive  method  of  farming.  The  move- 
ment is  known  as  the  Country  Farm  Association,  and  has  been  a 
success  from  the  beginning.  They  propose  to  "keep  close  touch  on 
the  market  and  cost  of  marketing;  encourage  the  purchase  of  land; 
visit  farms  operated  by  colored  men,  and  direct  their  study  and 
method  of  record-keeping;  demonstrate  methods  of  farming  on  the 
few  acres  of  land  at  the  farmers'  disposal;  circulate  farm  bulletins; 
keep  the  people  informed  concerning  local  and  national  movements 
which  affect  the  farmer  closely;  conduct  corn,  potato  and  tomato 
clubs;  and  arrange  programs  for  the  meetings  of  the  farmers'  asso- 
ciation; direct  the  annual  fair  and  exhibit  and  teach  fundamental 
principles  of  farming  to  children." 

In  1910,  the  Negro  National  Educational  Congress  was  started 


NEGRO  ORGANIZATIONS  137 

and  the  National  Independent  Political  League  held  its  first  meet- 
ing in  the  same  year.  Besides  the  independents,  the  Negroes  have 
a  Democratic  league  and  a  Republican  organization  of  considerable 
strength.  Nearly  every  group  of  Negro  voters  has  some  kind  of 
political  club,  organization  or  association. 

Besides  the  institutions  mentioned  above,  the  Negroes  of  the 
United  States  have  a  large  number  of  secret  orders,  some  of  which 
have  attained  the  dignity  of  national  organizations;  for  instance, 
The  Grand  United  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
the  Order  of  Elks,  and  the  National  Order  of  Mosaic  Templars. 
The  great  majority  of  the  older  secret  organizations  may  be  found 
among  the  colored  people.  Their  importance  is  probably  second 
only  to  the  Negro  church  activities.  The  phenomenal  growth  of 
the  Negro  beneficial  insurance  companies  is  one  of  the  signs  of  prog- 
ress within  the  race:  these  institutions  operate  all  over  the  country 
and  give  employment  to  thousands  of  black  men  and  women.  The 
Mutual  and  Provident  Beneficial  Company  of  Durham,  N.  C.,  the 
National  Benefit  Company  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  the  Keystone  Aid 
Society  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  are  good  examples  of  Negro  insurance 
companies  of  the  best  type.  Law  and  order  leagues,  literary  socie- 
ties, Christian  and  educational  congresses,  professional  and  business 
clubs,  trade  guilds  and  labor  unions,  may  be  found  in  the  Negro 
communities. 

The  Negro  is  well  provided  with  national  and  state  organiza- 
tions for  self-help.  He  has  professional  and  business  clubs,  charity 
organizations,  social  settlements  and  centers,  neighborhood  clubs, 
benevolent  associations  and  institutions  devoted  to  social  functions. 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  NEGRO  PUBLIC  HEALTH 

BY  S.  B.  JONES,  M.D., 
Resident  Physician,  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  Greensboro,  N.  C. 

.  At  the  present  time  arguments  are  being  brought  forward  by 
responsible,  and  sometimes  by  irresponsible,  persons  that  the  Negro 
race  in  the  United  States  is  fast  dying  out.  In  proof  of  this  it  is 
claimed  that  the  race  shows  an  increasing  death  rate,  a  declining 
birth  rate,  the  influence  of  alcoholic  and  sexual  intemperance,  and, 
in  particular,  a  racial  predisposition  to  tuberculosis  and  pulmonary 
diseases.  Now  if  accurate  vital  statistics  of  the  whole  Negro  race 
in  the  United  States  for  a  century  or  more  were  procurable,  it  might 
be  possible  to  determine  whether  this  opinion  is  founded  upon  facts 
or  not;  for  vital  statistics,  furnishing  exact  information  concerning 
the  birth  rate  and  the  death  rate  would  enable  impartial  investi- 
gators to  predict  with  tolerable  certainty  the  survival  or  the  extinc- 
tion of  this  race  of  people. 

But  even  this  course  might  fail  to  give  correct  information, 
since,  satisfactory  though  the  statistical  method  might  be,  it  should 
be  remembered  that  behind  and  beyond  its  facts  and  deductions 
lies  a  vast  territory,  covered  over  with  a  maze  of  social  and  economic 
problems  of  vital  importance  to  the  Negro  race  and  to  the  whole 
nation.  An  enormous  infant  mortality  may  conceal  the  criminal 
negligence  of  parents,  the  heartless  indifference  of  municipalities,  or 
an  economic  slavery  depriving  the  infant  of  its  right  to  be  well 
born.  Reading  between  the  columns  of  figures  setting  forth  a  large 
death  rate  from  tuberculosis,  one  may  detect  the  tragedy  of  human 
tribute  paid  for  the  maintenance  of  city  slums  and  alleys,  for  ignor- 
ance and  poverty,  for  debauchery  or  for  the  ambition  of  youth  that 
overestimates  the  physical  means  for  its  realization.  In  connection, 
therefore,  with  the  vital  statistics  of  the  Negro  race  these  human 
problems  must  be  considered,  for  a  resolute  attempt  at  their  solu- 
tion is  certain  to  change  the  interpretation  that  is  now  placed  upon 
them. 

No  accurate  statistics  exist  by  means  of  which  the  health  of 
slaves  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago  can  be  estimated.  A  common  belief 

138 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  NEGRO  PUBLIC  HEALTH  139 

prevails  that  during  the  period  of  slavery  the  death  rate  of  the 
Negro  race  was  less  than  that  of  the  white  race,  its  infant  mortality 
lower,  and  its  specific  death  rate  from  tuberculosis  infinitely  less. 
With  certain  limitations  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  may 
have  been  true.  No  doubt  the  first  generations,  which  had  been 
sufficiently  hardy  to  survive  the  dreaded  Middle  Passage  and  that 
first  period  of  increased  mortality  incident  to  the  acclimatization  of 
a  tropical  people  in  colder  regions,  under  the  stimulus  given  to  the 
production  of  a  marketable  product — human  flesh — excelled  the  white 
race  hi  fecundity.  A  life  in  the  open  air,  cabins  with  wide  fireplaces 
allowing  for  thorough  ventilation,  the  nursing  of  children  by  their 
own  mothers  tending  largely  to  a  low  infant  mortality,  a  religious 
exaltation  and  unfaltering  optimism — all  these  were  causes  which, 
in  the  absence  of  definite  statistics  to  the  contrary,  might  go  far  to 
justify  the  conclusion  of  Hoffman  that  "the  higher  rate  of  increase 
of  the  colored  population  during  the  period  preceding  the  war  would 
indicate  that  during  slavery  the  mortality  was  not  so  high,  at  least 
not  in  the  United  States,  as  it  has  been  since  emancipation." 

In  the  light  of  modern  knowledge  the  comparative  absence  of 
tuberculosis  among  the  Negroes  can  be  easily  explained.  The  masses 
of  Negroes  did  not  come  into  contact  with  their  white  masters  in 
their  houses,  and  were  consequently  not  exposed  to  the  germs  of 
that  disease  which  is  preeminently  a  house  disease.  The  only  por- 
tion of  the  slave  population  which  might  acquire  the  disease  was 
the  house  servants,  who  were  in  constant  association  with  them, 
and  whose  children  might  carry  the  malady  in  a  latent  form  which 
would  terminate  as  they  grew  older  into  the  severer  type  or  undergo 
a  natural  cure.  For  economic  reasons  such  persons  of  the  slave 
population  as  contracted  tuberculosis  were  forced  to  work,  and  this 
brought  about  speedy  death  or  happily  resulted  in  a  process  of 
healing. 

The  following  statistics  in  regard  to  health  conditions  among 
Negroes  during  that  tune  are  interesting  and  instructive:  In  the 
war  period,  1861-1865,  there  were  examined  315,620  white  recruits 
and  25,828  colored  for  enlistment  in  the  army.  The  number  of 
rejections  of  white  recruits  exceeded  that  of  colored  in  all  forms  of 
diseases,  the  figures  being  264  as  against  170  per  thousand.  In  the 
case  of  consumption  the  rejections  of  white  recruits  exceeded  those  of 
colored  recruits,  the  figures  being  1 1  in  the  white  to  4  per  thousand  in 


140  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

the  colored.  But  the  rejections  of  colored  in  the  case  of  syphilis  ex- 
ceeded that  of  the  white,  the  figures  being  7  to  3  per  thousand;  and 
in  scrofula  3  to  2  per  thousand.  Dr.  Buckner,  quoted  by  Hoffman, 
states  that  of  the  1,600  Negroes  examined  by  him,  "very  few  were 
rejected,  not  perhaps  more  than  10  per  cent.  Tuberculosis  is  very 
rare  among  them." 

Right  here  a  few  deductions  may  be  made.  The  excess  of 
scrofula  is  highly  significant,  for  the  modern  physician  knows  that 
it  is  simply  a  mild  form  of  tuberculosis  affecting  the  lymphatic 
glands.  It  is  the  forerunner  of  the  more  serious  forms  of  the  great 
white  plague.  The  white  race  had  reached  the  point  where  it  was 
to  acquire  a  comparative  immunity  from  tuberculosis;  the  black  race 
must  now  in  its  turn  pay  the  price  which  all  civilized  nations  and 
races  had  paid  for  progress  and  the  varied  activities  of  city  life. 
With  the  tuberculization  of  the  black  race  its  mortality  rate  will 
increase  until  it  also  reaches  at  a  later  day  a  comparative  immunity. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  a  new  era  began.  The  white  race 
resolutely  faced  reconstruction  with  the  usual  courage  and  energy 
of  Anglo-Saxons  determined  to  win  a  victory  from  every  defeat. 
Four  circumstances  were  in  its  favor:  it  had  advanced  far  enough 
to  acquire  a  partial  immunity  against  tuberculosis;  the  menace  of 
syphilis  was  growing  less;  its  death  rate  was  decreasing;  its  birth 
rate  was  rising.  For  the  Negro  race  it  was  a  time  of  storm  and 
stress,  of  unsettled  political  tendencies,  of  chimerical  ambitions  and 
social  unrest.  Economic  distress  by  lowering  its  vital  resistance 
made  it  an  easy  prey  for  the  inroads  of  disease,  which  increased  con- 
tinually because  of  ignorance  and  of  poverty,  of  ill-advised  schemes 
of  emigration  and  of  overcrowding  in  large  cities.  A  high  infant 
mortality  was  the  result.  The  fecundity  of  the  race  was  diminished 
while  that  of  the  white  race  increased.  Rickets  became  the  char- 
acteristic infantile  disease  of  the  race;  pulmonary  tuberculosis  of  its 
youth.  It  was  the  period  of  scanty  hospital  facilities  and  inade- 
quate medical  attention.  To  the  physical  discomforts  of  disease  was 
superadded  a  nervous  tension  as  the  race,  with  varying  success, 
strove  to  adjust  itself  to  the  larger  life  of  individual  and  racial  freedom. 

Such  were  the  conditions  which,  for  about  the  space  of  twenty- 
five  years  after  emancipation,  confronted  the  American  Negro.  The 
succeeding  twenty-five  years  is  the  period  of  vital  education  or,  in 
other  words,  of  practical  education  directed  towards  the  things  of 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  NEGRO  PUBLIC  HEALTH  141 

life  and  marked  by  the  founding  of  industrial  schools  throughout 
the  South  which  accomplished  incalculable  good  in  the  direction  of 
public  and  private  hygiene.  By  their  insistence  on  the  common 
things  of  life  like  tooth  brushes,  bed  linen  free  from  vermin,  water 
and  soap,  suitable  hours  of  rest  and  work,  advice  of  competent  medi- 
cal authority  in  times  of  illness,  they  undoubtedly  decreased  the 
death  rate  among  the  youth  of  the  race  directly  and  indirectly 
affecting  the  death  rate  at  large.  By  their  community  work  they 
improved  the  conditions  of  the  people  about  them.  Under  their 
influence  good  homes  were  built;  family  relationships  became  more 
stable;  while  concubinage  and  promiscuity,  though  still  existing,  were 
placed  under  the  ban  of  the  moral  law.  As  a  modus  vivendi  out  of 
the  political  situation  was  found,  the  apprehensions  of  the  Negro 
became  less,  and  he  vigorously  directed  his  attention  towards  secur- 
ing his  share  in  the  improved  economic  prosperity  of  the  South. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  mortality  rate  is  expected  to  decline, 
and  it  does  decline.  It  decreases  from  30  per  thousand  in  1900  to 
24  per  thousand  in  1910.  At  the  same  tune  the  population  increases 
11.3  per  cent  without  the  help  of  immigration,  an  increase  which 
Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  of  the  bureau  of  the  census,  describes  as 
a  rate  "equal  to  that  of  representative  European  countries."  And 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  bureau  of  the  census  estimates  that 
the  death  rate  in  the  country  districts  is  about  two-thirds  of  that 
in  the  cities  of  the  registration  area,  the  conclusion  of  Hoffman,  for 
the  present  at  least,  cannot  be  true  that  "the  mortality  rate  of  the 
race  is  on  the  increase." 

It  was  the  period  also  in  which  more  distinctive  agencies  for 
the  reduction  of  Negro  mortality  appeared:  colored  medical  schools 
and  hospitals  and  nurse  training  schools  were  established;  Howard, 
Meharry,  Leonard  and  Flint  sent  out  their  graduates  to  reduce  the 
death  rate.  These  men  and  women  were  teachers  of  hygiene  as 
well  as  practitioners  of  medicine.  At  tunes  they  had  to  perform  the 
duties  of  nurse  as  well  as  physician.  Regarded  with  suspicion  in 
the  earlier  days,  they  steadily  overcame  the  prejudice  of  their  own 
race,  in  many  cases  being  given  the  helping  hand  by  Southern  white 
physicians,  and  so  were  enabled  to  perform  a  mission  which  no 
other  than  Negroes  could  satisfactorily  perform.  The  late  president 
of  the  Virginia  state  board  of  medical  examiners  once  said  to  one 
of  these  men:  "It  is  the  colored  physician  who  can  best  serve  the 


142  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

colored  people.  We  can  help,  but  not  as  much  as  the  colored  phy- 
sician." The  909  physicians  in  1890  increased  to  1734  in  1900  and 
now  probably  number  over  3600.  Equally  active  in  the  reduction 
of  the  mortality  rate  has  been  the  trained  colored  nurse.  Not  only 
to  her  own  race  has  she  been  of  service,  but  also  to  the  white  race. 
Freedman's  training  school  for  nurses  established  in  1862  has  been 
followed  by  the  founding  of  more  than  65  hospital  and  nurse  train- 
ing schools  in  thirteen  Southern,  four  Western  and  three  Northern 
states.  In  Birmingham,  Ala.,  in  Chicago,  111.,  in  Norfolk,  Va.,  in 
Wilmington,  N.  C.,  visiting  nurses  are  assisting  in  the  reduction  of 
the  mortality  rate  by  attending  the  sick,  by  advising  those  who 
are  well  as  to  the  methods  of  preventive  medicine,  and  in  a  few 
instances  conducting  classes  in  home  nursing  for  the  older  girls  in 
the  public  schools. 

Within  the  last  five  years  attention  has  been  directed  specifically 
towards  the  reduction  of  the  high  death  rate.  Negro  physicians 
and  teachers,  some  enlightened  pastors,  graduates  of  literary  and 
industrial  schools,  are  all  united  in  the  determined  efforts  they  are 
making  to  reduce  the  Negro  death  rate,  especially  the  death  rate 
from  tuberculosis.  Splendid  assistance  and  generous  cooperation 
have  been  extended  by  white  physicians  and  public  health  officers 
who,  by  lectures  to  schools  and  churches  are  emphasizing,  as  never 
before  in  the  history  of  the  nation,  the  importance  of  public  health 
to  the  Negro. 

At  first  this  progressive  movement  took  shape  as  anti-tubercu- 
losis leagues,  formed  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Wertenbaker 
of  the  Marine  Hospital  Service  in  several  of  the  Southern  States; 
but  its  scope  is  being  enlarged  to  include  health  clubs  in  which  are 
discussed  problems  relating  to  disease,  sanitation,  insurance  and  pub- 
lic health.  Admirable  work  in  this  direction  is  being  done  by  the 
annual  conferences  at  Atlanta  University,  Hampton  and  Tuskegee 
Institutes.  The  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  of  Greensboro, 
N.  C.,  has  a  model  health  club  and  gives  advice  to  all  students  who 
are  anxious  to  establish  similar  clubs  in  their  communities.  As  a 
whole  the  school  superintendents  are  active  leaders  in  this  move- 
ment; and  the  time  is  fast  approaching,  if  it  has  not  already  arrived, 
when  health  talks  in  the  public  schools  by  teachers  or  physicians 
will  be  held  to  be  as  important  as  the  lesson  in  arithmetic,  the 
caning  of  chairs  or  the  making  of  bread. 


FIFTY  YEARS  OP  NEGRO  PUBLIC  HEALTH  143 

In  spite  of  this  favorable  outlook  there  still  remain  several 
important  problems  claiming  attention.  Undoubtedly  tuberculosis 
is  the  greatest  of  these.  Viewed  at  a  long  range  it  is  not  as  serious 
as  may  be  thought,  being  reducible  to  the  general  formula  of  prob- 
lems which  races  must  encounter  in  their  upward  advance  towards 
civilization,  a  process  which  usually  involves  a  large  death  rate. 
The  immunization  which  civilized  races  have  obtained  through  this 
process  has  not  yet  been  carried  sufficiently  far  to  protect  the  Negro; 
but  there  are  signs  of  improvement  even  in  this  direction,  for  the 
death  rate  per  hundred  thousand  in  the  registration  area  in  1890 
was  546;  in  1900  it  was  485;  while  in  1910  it  fell  still  lower  to  405. 
Though  primarily  a  problem  of  public  health,  it  is  also  one  of  soci- 
ology, since  the  restriction  of  the  Negro  to  certain  areas  in  cities 
where  housing  conditions  are  bad,  the  limited  choice  of  occupations 
and  intemperate  habits,  all  tend  to  increase  the  death  rate  from 
tuberculosis.  But  notwithstanding  these  discouraging  features  it 
seems  probable  that  the  tuberculization  of  the  Negro  has  already 
reached  its  maximum  and  with  the  application  of  the  remedies  of 
various  social  agencies  a  decline  in  the  mortality  rate  from  this 
disease  may  now  be  confidently  expected. 

The  problem  of  infant  mortality  is  also  a  grave  one.  For  im- 
provement in  this  respect  one  must  look  to  the  forces  of  education 
which  are  at  work  for  the  establishment  of  permanent  family  life, 
for  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  hygiene,  for  public  health  officers  who 
will  insist  on  improvement  of  sanitary  conditions  in  Negro  sections 
of  large  cities. 

The  problem  of  hookworm  infection  has  proved  to  be  a  negligi- 
ble one.  Dr.  Wyckliffe  Rose,  administrative  secretary  of  the  Rocke- 
feller Sanitary  Commission,  states  that  "all  statistics  thus  far  go  to 
show  that  the  infection  is  much  lighter  among  the  colored  popula- 
tion than  among  the  white.  There  seems  to  be  some  degree  of 
racial  immunity.  The  men  report  excellent  cooperation  on  the  part 
of  the  colored  people.  They  have  examined  the  students  in  many 
colored  schools  and  have  examined  and  treated  many  colored  people 
at  the  dispensaries."  However,  the  commission  appointed  by  the 
National  Medical  Association  of  Negro  Physicians  to  investigate  the 
prevalence  of  this  disease  among  the  colored  people  insisted  that 
while  it  is  true  that  the  large  part  attributed  to  the  race  in  the 


144  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

spread  of  the  disease  was  incorrect,  the  special  problem  was  a  part 
of  the  larger  one  of  sanitation  and  preventive  medicine. 

The  problem  of  venereal  diseases  is  extremely  important,  nor 
is  it  one  which  may  be  lightly  disregarded.  It  has  provoked  much 
discussion  among  Negroes  and  members  of  the  other  race.  "The 
Negro  and  His  Health  Problems,"  by  Dr.  J.  Madison  Taylor  (Medi- 
cal Record,  September  21,  1912)  and  "Venereal  Diseases  in  the  Negro, 
with  Special  Reference  to  Gonorrhea,"  by  Dr.  John  C.  Rush  (Medical 
Record,  May  31,  1913)  are  articles  which  would  have  been  more 
valuable  to  the  scientific  student  had  the  comparative  method  been 
employed,  and  the  problems  of  the  Negro  considered  as  part  of  the 
general  problems  of  the  human  race  and  subject  to  the  same  laws 
of  social  development.  Interesting  discussions  might  arise  out  of 
the  two  articles,  but  this  is  not  the  time  nor  the  place  for  such.  The 
curious  reader,  confining  himself  strictly  to  the  question  of  venereal 
diseases  among  Negroes,  might  compare  with  these  Dr.  Wolbarst's 
article  in  the  Medical  Record  of  October  29,  1910,  from  which  it  will 
appear  that  these  are  particularly  human,  and  not  racial,  problems 
with  which  the  whole  nation  is  called  upon  to  deal. 

That  the  danger  is  not  underestimated  even  by  Negroes  is 
apparent  from  the  statement  that  "there  is  among  Negroes  a  con- 
stant excess  of  venereal  disease  among  unsuccessful  applicants"  for 
the  United  States  Army.  Coming  from  such  a  responsible  source 
as  the  volume  on  Health  and  Physique  of  the  Negro  American  (No. 
11,  Atlanta  University  Publications,  p.  68),  this  statement  deserves 
serious  consideration.  From  the  medical  point  of  view  its  preva- 
lence among  enlisted  men  points  to  the  syphilization  of  the  race  as 
one  of  the  prices  it  must  pay  for  entering  upon  the  heritage  of  civili- 
zation; from  the  sociological  it  is  an  omen  of  grave  import  to  the 
race  and  the  nation  at  large.  The  remedy  lies  in  such  measures 
as  are  being  taken  to  combat  these  diseases  among  the  white  race: 
instruction  in  sexual  matters  to  the  youth,  as  advocated  by  the 
American  Federation  of  Sex  Hygiene;  an  awakened  public  conscience; 
and  a  pride  of  race  which  holds  of  paramount  importance  the  phys- 
ical interests  of  the  generations  that  are  yet  unborn.  Fortunately 
there  are  already  signs  of  progress.  In  several  of  the  Southern 
colored  colleges  regular  and  systematic  lectures  are  given  by  the 
college  physicians  on  this  vital  subject,  and  the  students  are  shown 
the  perils  of  extra-conjugal  sexual  relations.  The  remedy  proposed 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  NEGRO  PUBLIC  HEALTH  145 

by  Dr.  John  Rush  of  Mobile,  Ala.,  is  the  one  that  will  commend 
itself  to  thinking  Negro  educators  and  physicians.     He  says: 

Do  away  with  so  many  creed  teachers  and  give  them  teachers  on  sexual 
psychology  and  hygiene,  beginning  from  the  time  they  are  twelve  years  old, 
and  taught  until  their  education  is  finished.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  some  of 
the  large-hearted  philanthropists  who  bequeath  fortunes  for  the  education  of 
the  Negro  do  not  specify  that  about  one-half  of  the  amount  donated  be  used 
in  establishing  such  courses  of  study.  Not  only  should  these  branches  be 
taught  in  Negro  schools  and  colleges,  but  in  the  institutions  of  learning  for 
our  own  young  people.  This  has  been  the  fault  in  our  white  schools  and  col- 
leges, not  only  in  the  South,  but  all  over  the  United  States.  They  have  failed 
to  teach  young  men  how  to  live,  and  by  this  I  mean  they  have  allowed  them 
to  go  on  ignorant  of  the  sexual  side  of  life  except  as  it  could  be  learned  from 
a  fellow-student's  personal  experience. 

To  sum  up :  In  the  course  of  the  past  fifty  years  the  Negro  race 
has  had  to  contend  against  the  hostile  forces  of  ignorance,  poverty 
and  prejudice  while  adjusting  itself  to  the  new  conditions  imposed 
by  the  life  of  freedom,  and  consequently  its  mortality  rate  has  been 
excessively  high,  due  largely  to  pulmonary  tuberculosis  and  infant 
diseases;  but  now  a  marked  improvement  is  apparent,  and  its  mor- 
tality rate  is  declining  with  that  of  the  general  population.  With 
this  conclusion  the  recent  report  of  the  United  States  bureau  of  the 
census  agrees.  In  Bulletin  112,  Mortality  Statistics  1911,  the  follow- 
ing gratifying  statement  of  the  progress  made  in  this  direction  occurs : 

The  differences  between  the  death  rates  of  the  native  white  population 
of  native  and  foreign  parentage  and  the  foreign  born  white  population  should 
not  be  interpreted  as  essential  racial  differences,  but  rather  as  due  to  eco- 
nomic and  other  social  causes.  The  same  reasons  may  explain  the  high  death 
rate  of  the  colored  or  Negro  population  as  compared  with  the  white  popula- 
tion. The  death  rate  of  the  colored  population  of  the  registration  area  as  a 
whole  in  1911  (23.7  per  1,000),  although  much  higher  than  that  of  the  white 
population  (13.7)  is  lower  than  the  rates  of  the  great  majority  of  European 
countries  up  to  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  could  undoubt- 
edly be  reduced  to  a  figure  which  would  more  closely  approximate,  if  not 
equal,  the  death  rate  of  the  white  population. 

Various  agencies  are  at  work  in  promoting  better  conditions  of 
public  health:  there  are  the  literary  and  industrial  schools,  skilful 
Negro  physicians,  trained  nurses  and  devoted  teachers,  interested 
state  boards  of  health,  and  an  enlightened  public  sentiment. 

It  is  true  that  great  problems  still  remain,  such  as  those  of 


146  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

tuberculosis,  an  excessive  infant  mortality  and  venereal  diseases,  yet 
just  as  the  nations  of  Europe  survived  these  dread  scourges  with 
far  less  knowledge  of  sanitation  among  their  wisest  scientists  than 
is  possessed  by  many  a  Negro  school  boy  or  girl  today,  so  the  chances 
of  the  survival  of  the  race  seem  exceptionally  hopeful. 

As  economic  prosperity  increases,  a  decline  in  the  city  birth 
rate  is  to  be  expected,  as  is  the  case  with  the  most  progressive  and 
civilized  nations  of  the  world;  but  no  evil  results  are  to  be  appre- 
hended from  this  in  view  of  the  present  declining  death  rate  and  a 
rural  population  actively  settling  the  farm  lands  of  the  South,  and, 
as  is  customary  with  such  a  population,  steadily  increasing  in  fecun- 
dity. 

Who  fears  to  face  another  fifty  years  with  all  these  forces  at 
work  for  the  permanence  of  the  race?  Only  the  pessimist  doubtful 
of  the  value  of  education.  Under  that  banner  the  best  for  the  Negro 
race  has  been  accomplished  while  the  battle  cry  changed  from  books 
to  tools,  from  classrooms  to  workshops,  from  the  theoretical  to  the 
practical.  Now  another  battle  cry  is  sounding  louder  and  more 
insistent:  it  is  the  battle  cry  of  physiological  teaching  directed  towards 
the  prolongation  of  life  and  the  diminution  of  human  suffering,  for 
without  sound  health  the  finest  classical  education  and  the  most 
useful  industrial  training  avail  nothing.  The  battle  is  being  fought 
with  united  armies  on  a  territory  where  all  may  operate — the  field 
of  public  health.  The  need  of  the  hour,  so  far  as  Negroes  are  con- 
cerned, is  for  systematic  and  organized  effort  directed  towards  the 
problems  of  sanitation  and  public  health  in  all  colored  schools  and 
colleges,  in  all  churches  and  communities,  in  fraternal  societies  and 
in  private  families.  It  is  not  too  much  to  expect  victory  for  a  race, 
which,  in  fifty  years,  has  reduced  its  illiteracy  from  an  estimated 
percentage  of  95  to  one  of  33.3  as  given  by  the  census  figures  of  1910. 
Let  the  teaching  of  general  elementary  physiology,  including  sex 
physiology,  and  sanitation  be  placed  on  a  rational  basis  in  all  colored 
schools  and  colleges,  in  the  hands  of  men  and  women  thoroughly 
trained  and  with  full  knowledge  of  the  health  problems  named  above, 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  issue  of  the  conflict  will  be 
such  a  rapidly  declining  death  rate  and  reduced  morbidity  as  will 
astonish  the  civilized  world. 


NEGRO   HOME   LIFE   AND   STANDARDS   OF   LIVING 

By  ROBERT  E.  PARK, 

Wollaston,  Mass. 

Before  the  Civil  War  there  were,  generally  speaking,  two  classes 
of  Negroes  in  the  United  States,  namely  free  Negroes  and  slaves. 
After  the  Civil  War  and  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  plantation 
Negroes  remained,  for  the  most  part,  upon  the  soil  and  formed  a 
class  of  peasant  farmers.  This  class,  which  represented  80  per  cent 
of  the  race,  constituted  the  base  of  the  social  structure,  so  far  as 
such  a  thing  may  be  said  to  have  existed  at  that  time,  among  the 
members  of  the  race.  Above  this  there  was  a  small  class  composed 
in  part  of  free  Negroes,  in  part  of  a  class  of  favored  slaves,  all  those 
in  fact  whom  education,  opportunity  or  natural  ability  had  given 
material  advantages  and  a  superior  social  position.  It  was  this 
class  which  took  the  leadership  directly  after  the  war. 

In  recent  years  the  number  of  occupations  in  which  Negroes 
are  engaged  has  multiplied  and  the  area  of  the  Negro's  activities, 
except  perhaps  in  the  realm  of  politics,  has  greatly  extended.  The 
descendants  of  the  free  Negroes  and  of  those  slaves  who  started 
with  superior  advantages  directly  after  the  war  have  gone  very 
largely  into  the  professions.  They  are  lawyers,  physicians,  teachers, 
musicians,  playwrights  and  actors.  One  of  the  highest  paid  per- 
formers on  the  vaudeville  stage  today  is  a  colored  man.  Several 
of  the  most  successful  composers  of  popular  songs  are  colored.  Others 
are  engaged  in  various  kinds  of  social  service.  They  are  missionaries 
to  Africa,  secretaries  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  social 
settlement  workers,  and  so  forth.  In  almost  every  instance  it  will 
be  found  that  the  men  and  women  who  have  gained  distinction  in 
any  of  the  professions  mentioned  were  the  descendants  either  of 
free  Negroes  or  of  a  class  which  I  have  called  favored  slaves. 

In  the  meantime  there  has  grown  up  in  recent  years  a  vigorous 
and  pushing  middle  class,  composed  of  small  contractors,  business 
men  of  various  sorts,  bankers,  real  estate  and  insurance  men.  The 
two  largest  fortunes  left  by  Negroes  of  which  we  have  any  record 
were  made  in  real  estate  speculations.  Thorny  Lafon,  who  died  at 

147 


148  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

his  house  in  New  Orleans  in  1892,  left  a  fortune  which  was  appraFsed 
at  $413,000  and  Colonel  John  Mackey,  who  died  in  Philadelphia  in 
1902,  left  property  which  was  valued  at  $432,000  and  was  probably 
worth  very  much  more,  since  a  large  part  of  it  was  coal  and  min- 
eral land  in  Kentucky. 

At  the  same  time,  from  among  the  peasant  farmers,  there  has 
grown  a  small  class  of  plantation  owners.  These  men  farm  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  land  they  own,  and  rent  the  remaining  to  ten- 
ants, to  whom  they  stand  in  the  position  of  capitalists.  Usually 
they  will  run  a  small  store  from  which  they  make  advances  to  their 
tenants.  Although  there  were,  among  the  free  Negroes  of  the  South 
before  the  War,  a  certain  number  who  owned  large  plantations,  and 
some  who  owned  slaves,  the  Negro  plantation  owners  in  the  South 
today  have  been  recruited  almost  wholly  from  the  ranks  of  the 
plantation  Negroes.  They  represent,  in  other  words,  men  who  have 
come  up. 

The  growth  of  a  Negro  middle  class,  composed  of  merchants, 
plantation  owners  and  small  capitalists,  has  served  to  fill  the  dis- 
tance which  formerly  existed  between  the  masses  of  the  race  at  the 
bottom  and  the  small  class  of  educated  Negroes  at  the  top,  and  in 
this  way  has  contributed  to  the  general  diffusion  of  culture,  as  well 
as  to  the  solidarity  of  the  race. 

Although  the  distinction  between  the  upper  and  lower  strata 
of  Negro  social  life  is  not  so  clearly  marked  now  as  formerly,  the 
descendants  of  the  different  types  of  antebellum  Negroes  have  pre- 
served, to  a  very  large  extent,  the  traditions,  sentiments  and  habits 
of  their  ancestors,  and  it  will  contribute  something  to  understanding 
the  social  standards,  the  degree  of  culture  and  comfort  which  the 
Negro  peasant,  the  Negro  artisan,  business  and  professional  man 
enjoy  today  to  take  some  account  of  those  earlier,  ante-bellum  con- 
ditions out  of  which  they  sprang. 

The  great  majority  of  the  slaves  were  employed  in  only  the 
crudest  forms  of  unskilled  labor.  They  were  field  hands,  working 
under  the  direction  of  an  overseer  and  reckoned,  along  with  the 
stock  and  tools,  as  part  of  the  equipment  of  the  plantation.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  amount  of  general  culture  and  knowledge 
of  the  world  which  they  obtained  depended  upon  the  extent  and 
character  of  their  contact  with  the  white  man  and  with  the  outside 
world.  This  differed  greatly  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  There 


NEGRO  HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIVING  149 

was  perhaps,  no  part  of  the  South  where  the  plantation  Negro  grew 
up  on  such  easy  and  familiar  terms  with  his  master  as  in  south- 
western Virginia.  Here  the  farms  were  small;  the  crops  were  varied; 
servant  and  master  worked  side  by  side  in  the  field  and  lived  upon 
an  equality  rarely  if  ever  seen  in  the  states  farther  South.  The 
effects  of  these  ante-bellum  conditions  may  be  clearly  seen  today. 
There  is  no  part  of  the  South,  perhaps  no  part  of  the  United  States 
where  the  small  Negro  farmers  are  more  independent  and  prosper- 
ous, or  where  the  two  races  get  on  better  together,  than,  for  example, 
in  the  region  around  Christianburg,  Va. 

The  homes  of  the  Negro  farmers  in  this  region  would  be  regarded 
as  comfortable  for  a  small  farmer  in  any  part  of  the  country.  They 
are  frequently  two-story  frame  buildings,  surrounded  by  a  garden 
and  numerous  out-buildings.  The  interior  of  these  homes  is  neat 
and  well  kept.  They  contain  a  few  books,  some  pictures  and  the 
usual  assortment  of  women's  handiwork.  A  general  air  of  comfort 
and  contentment  pervades  the  homes  and  the  community.  Nearby 
there  is  a  little  six  months  country  school.  You  learn,  also,  that 
one  or  two  of  the  children  have  completed  the  course  in  the  public 
school  and  have  been  sent  away  to  a  neighboring  academy  to  com- 
plete their  course. 

The  contrast  between  one  of  the  homes  in  this  part  of  Virginia 
and  a  similar  home  in  a  region  like  the  sea  islands,  off  the  coast  of 
South  Carolina  is  striking,  particularly  if  you  have  come,  as  was 
true  in  my  case,  almost  directly  from  one  to  the  other.  In  the 
sea  islands  the  slaves  were  more  isolated  than  in  almost  any  other 
part  of  the  South.  The  result  is  apparent  in  the  condition  and  lives 
of  the  Negro  people  today.  Outside  of  the  towns  they  live,  for  the 
most  part,  on  little  farms  of  ten  and  twenty  acres  which  were  sold 
to  them  by  the  federal  government  directly  after  the  war.  These 
homes  are  quaint  little  nests,  often  curiously  improvised  to  meet 
the  individual  necessities  of  the  household.  The  people  are  on  the 
whole  densely  ignorant,  but  possess  a  shrewd  and  homely  wit  that 
makes  conversation  with  them  an  interesting  exercise.  Among  them- 
selves they  speak  a  dialect  that  is  scarcely  intelligible  to  an  out- 
sider and  they  have  many  quaint  and  curious  customs,  some  of 
which  may  have  their  source  in  Africa.  Among  other  things  peculiar 
to  the  people  of  these  islands  are  there  "prayer  houses."  These 
prayer  houses  are  a  local  institution,  older  and  different  from  the 


150  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

churches,  which  were  introduced  after  the  Civil  War.  Connected 
with  these  prayer  houses,  also,  there  are  religious  forms  and  exer- 
cises, older  and  cruder  than  those  practised  in  the  churches.  What 
is  recognized  elsewhere  as  a  weakness  of  the  Negro  race,  and  perhaps 
of  all  isolated  and  primitive  peoples,  namely  a  disposition  to  cherish 
personal  enmities,  and  to  split  and  splinter  into  factitious  little  groups, 
finds  abundant  illustration  here.  There  are  probably  more  little 
churches,  more  little  societies,  and,  if  I  can  judge,  more  time  and 
energy  wasted  in  religious  excitements  and  factional  disputes  among 
the  people  of  the  sea  islands  than  in  any  similar  group  of  colored 
people  anywhere  in  the  South.  As  is,  perhaps,  to  be  expected, 
where  so  much  time  and  energy  are  expended  in  litigious  and  cere- 
monial excitements  there  is  not  much  left  for  the  ordinary  business 
of  daily  life.  In  spite  of  this  fact  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  the 
home  life  of  the  sea  island  people  is  more  comfortable  and  quite  as 
wholesome. as  that  of  the  peasants  in  many  parts  of  southern  Europe 
which  I  have  visited. 

It  was  notorious,  even  in  slavery  times,  that  the  up-country 
Negroes  were  superior  to  the  coast  Negroes,  and  this  seems  to  be 
true  today,  even  of  those  remote  parts  of  the  black  belt  where  the 
Negroes  are  still  living  very  much  as  they  did  in  slavery  times.  I 
visited  not  long  ago,  one  of  these  isolated  little  communities,  situated 
on  the  rich  bottom  lands  along  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Alabama 
River.  The  settlement  consisted  of,  perhaps,  a  hundred  families, 
who  are  employed  during  the  year  on  one  or  two  of  the  plantations 
in  the  neighborhood.  Ordinarily,  on  the  old  fashioned  plantations 
such  as  these,  the  tenants  would  live  in  the  "quarters,"  as  they 
did  in  slavery  days,  or  in  little  huts  scattered  about  on  the  land 
they  tilled.  In  this  case,  however,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  culti- 
vated land  was  so  frequently  inundated  by  spring  floods,  the  ten- 
ants of  each  plantation  were  located  on  a  little  stretch  of  sandy  soil 
which  the  spring  flood  never  reached,  although  it  often  covered  all 
the  surrounding  country.  This  stretch 'of  sand  is  dotted,  at  con- 
venient distances,  with  giant  live  oak  trees,  which  afford  a  welcome 
shade  and  give  the  effect  of  a  natural  park.  On  this  little  sandy 
oasis  are  scattered  at  irregular  intervals  the  homes  of  the  people 
of  the  settlement.  They  are,  for  the  most  part,  little  rude  huts 
with  two  or  three  rooms  and  a  few  outbuildings.  Sometimes  there 
are  fruit  trees  in  the  garden  in  front  of  the  houses,  with  a  barn, 


NEGRO  HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIVING  151 

pig  stys,  hen  yards,  in  the  rear  and  on  the  other  sides,  the  number 
of  these  buildings  depending  upon  the  thrift  of  the  farmer. 

Most  of  the  people  who  live  here  have  grown  up  in  the  settle- 
ment or  have  married  into  it.  At  one  of  the  neatest  of  these  little 
cottages  I  met  a  little  withered  old  man,  who  proved  to  be  the 
patriarch  of  the  community.  His  memory  went  back,  I  found,  to 
the  time  when  this  region  was  a  wilderness.  He  knew  the  history 
of  every  family  in  the  settlement.  A  large  portion  of  them  were, 
in  fact,  his  children  and  grandchildren  and  he  told  me,  in  response 
to  my  questions,  the  whole  story  of  the  pioneers  in  this  region  and 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  land  was  cleared  and  settled.  He  him- 
self had  never  been  away  from  the  plantation  except  for  a  few  months 
during  the  war,  when  he  ran  away  to  Mobile.  The  little  house  in 
which  he  lived  was  the  typical  two-room  cabin,  with  a  wide  open 
hallway,  or  rather  porch,  between  the  two  sections  of  the  house. 
The  interior  was  rather  bare,  but  everything  about  the  house  was 
clean  and  neat.  A  vine  grew  over  the  porch,  a  gourd  hung  from  the 
beams,  and  a  few  trees  were  in  blossom  in  front  of  the  house. 

The  other  houses  in  the  community  are  much  like  this  one, 
some  of  them  even  smaller.  One  of  the  more  enterprising  citizens, 
however,  who  was,  as  I  remember,  the  only  land  owner,  has  erected 
a  new  four-room  house.  In  this  house  there  was  a  rug  on  the  floor, 
a  few  pictures,  most  of  them  family  portraits,  some  books,  generally 
what  are  known  as  "race  books,"  which  contain  uplifting  accounts 
of  the  progress  of  the  race.  Besides  these,  there  were  several  copies 
of  a  weekly  farm  paper,  a  few  government  agricultural  bulletins 
and  a  large  framed  lithograph  portrait  of  Booker  T.  Washington. 
Another  thing  which  distinguished  this  house  from  the  others  was 
the  possession  of  a  screen  door,  a  further  evidence  that  the  owner 
of  the  house  was  an  exceptional  person  in  this  community. 

The  principal  diet  here,  as  elsewhere  among  the  Negro  farmers 
in  the  South,  consists  of  fat  pork,  corn  bread  with  syrup,  and  greens. 
In  addition  to  this,  there  are  on  occasions  eggs  and  chicken  and  per- 
haps tea  and  coffee.  A  really  thrifty  housewife,  however,  knows 
how  to  brew  tea  from  herbs  gathered  in  the  woods,  and  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year  there  are  fish  and  game  in  abundance. 

The  budget  of  an  average  Negro  tenant  farmer  as  accurately 
as  I  was  able  to  obtain  it,  worked  out  about  as  follows: 


152  THE  ANNALS  or  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

Rent,  two  bales  of  cotton  and  seed $150.00 

Clothing  for  a  family  of  six 76 . 75 

Groceries 125 . 00 

Physician  and  medicines 9 . 00 

"Christmas  money" 15.00 

Church  and  school 5.00 

Average  cost  of  fertilizer  and  farm  equipment,  feed  for  mule, 

etc 162.75 

Total  expense 543 . 50 

Cash 56.50 

Total $600.00 

There  is  always  room  for  a  wide  margin  in  these  accounts.  In 
a  bad  season  or  when  cotton  is  cheap  the  value  of  the  tenant's  por- 
tion of  the  crop  may  fall  far  below  the  estimated  income  of  $6.00. 
With  a  good  season  it  will  amount  to  considerable  more. 

The  average  tenant  farmer  will  spend  as  much  money  during 
the  cropping  season  as  the  grocer  or  the  banker  who  is  advancing 
him  will  permit.  An  actual  month's  rations  for  a  farmer  of  this 
class  is  as  follows: 

Chops,  four  bushels \  _ 

n  j.     c.      u     i.  i        f  F°r  mule  and  other  stock $7 . 50 

Oats,  five  bushels     J 

Flour,  50  pounds 1 .95 

Meal,  one  bushel 1.00 

Meat 1.50 

Lard .50 

Sugar .60 

Groceries .95 

Total $14.00 

To  this  must  be  added  $4  in  cash  which  will  make  the  total 
cash  of  the  monthly  ration  for  a  family  of  six,  $18.  This  ration 
will  of  course  be  supplemented  by  the  products  of  the  garden  and  of 
the  farm.  A  thrifty  farmer,  however,  can  reduce  the  amount  of 
his  purchases  at  the  store  to  almost  nothing.  He  can  raise  his  own 
cane  and  make  his  own  syrup;  he  can  raise  his  own  fodder,  and 
supply  himself  with  pork  and  corn  meal  from  his  own  farm.  This 
is  what  he  usually  does  as  soon  as  he  sets  out  to  buy  a  farm  of  his 
own. 

There  has  been  great  improvement  in  recent  years  in  the  living 
condition  of  the  Negro  farmers  in  most  parts  of  what  is  known  as 
the  Black  Belt.  This  is  particularly  true  of  those  sections  of  the 


NEGRO  HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIVING  153 

country  where  the  Negroes  have  begun  to  buy  land  or  where  they 
have  come  in  contact,  through  schools  or  through  agents  of  the 
farm  demonstration  movement,  with  the  influences  that  are  chang- 
ing and  improving  the  method  and  technique  of  farming  throughout 
the  South. 

Wherever  one  meets  a  little  colony  of  Negro  land  owners  and 
wherever  one  meets  a  Negro  who  has  risen  to  the  position  of  farm 
manager,  one  invariably  finds  improvement  in  the  character  and 
condition  of  the  Negro  home.  Whenever  a  good  school  is  estab- 
lished it  is  usually  the  center  of  a  group  of  thrifty  Negro  farmers. 
Not  infrequently  a  Negro  farmer,  who  has  acquired  a  little  land  or 
a  little  money,  will  sell  his  property  and  move  to  another  state  or 
another  county  in  order  to  obtain  good  country  school  accommo- 
dations for  his  children.  Macon  County,  Alabama,  for  example,  in 
which  the  Tuskegee  Institute  is  located  is  said  to  have  more  Negro 
landowners  than  any  other  county  in  the  South,  and  very  many  of 
these  have  come  into  the  county  during  the  past  five  or  six  years 
•since  an  effort  was  made  by  the  Tuskegee  Institute  to  build  up 
and  improve  the  country  schools  in  that  county.  A  large  propor- 
tion of  colored  farmers  in  Macon  County  live  at  present  in  neat 
four-  and  five-room  cottages.  The  standard  of  living  has  been  appre- 
ciably raised  in  this  and  neighboring  counties. 

Census  statistics  show  that  the  number  of  Negro  landowners 
is  increasing  throughout  the  South  about  50  per  cent  more  rapidly 
than  the  white.  Ownership  of  land  invariably  brings  with  it  an 
improvement  in  the  stability  and  the  comfort  of  the  home.  The 
number  of  large  landowners  and  farm  managers  is  likewise  increas- 
ing. Recently  I  visited  the  house  of  a  Negro  "renter"  in  Georgia. 
He  was,  in  fact,  not  the  ordinary  tenant  farmer  but  rather  a  farm 
manager.  He  himself  farmed  but  a  small  portion  of  the  land  he 
rented,  subletting  it  to  tenants  over  whom  he  exercised  a  careful 
supervision.  He  was  a  man  who  had  never  been  to  school,  but 
he  had  taught  himself  to  read.  He  was  living  in  a  large  comfortable 
house,  formerly  occupied  by  the  owner  of  the  plantation.  This 
man  was  not  only  a  good  farmer  but,  in  his  way,  he  was  something 
of  a  student.  Among  his  books  I  noticed  several  that  had  to  do 
with  the  local  history  of  the  country  during  slavery  times,  which 
showed  that  he  had  an  amount  of  intellectual  curiosity  that  is  rare 
in  men  of  his  class.  This  was  further  shown  by  his  eagerness  to 


154  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

talk  about  matters  of  which  he  had  read  in  the  newspapers  in  regard 
to  which  he  wanted  more  information.  He  had,  as  I  remember, 
about  $5,000  in  the  bank  and  was  looking  forward  to  purchasing 
very  soon  the  plantation  upon  which  he  was  living. 

I  have  frequently  met  Negro  farmers,  old  men  who  had  come  up 
from  slavery,  who  owned  and  conducted  large  plantations,  although 
they  could  neither  read  nor  write.  One  man  in  Texas,  who  owned 
1,800  acres  of  land  told  me  that,  until  recent  years,  he  had  carried 
all  his  accounts  with  his  tenants  in  his  head.  Finding  however, 
that,  as  he  grew  older,  he  was  losing  his  ability  to  remember  he 
had  hired  a  school  teacher  to  keep  his  accounts  for  him.  Sometimes 
these  men  who  have  struggled  from  the  position  of  peasant  to  that 
of  a  planter  live  in  much  the  same  way  as  their  tenants.  But  the 
next  generation  is  usually  educated  and  learns  to  spend,  even  if  it 
has  not  learned  to  make. 

In  the  North,  as  might  be  expected,  Negroes  farm  better  and 
live  better  than  they  do  in  the  South.  One  of  the  most  successful 
farmers  in  the  state  of  Kansas  is  Junius  G.  Groves  of  Edwardsville, 
Kans.  Groves  was  born  as  slave  in  Green  County,  Ky.  He  went 
over  to  Kansas  with  the  exodus  in  1879.  He  started  in  1882  to 
raise  potatoes  on  a  rented  farm  of  6  acres.  He  now  owns  503  acres 
in  the  Kaw  Valley  upon  which  he  raised  last  year  a  crop  of  55,000 
bushels  of  potatoes.  With  the  aid  of  his  sons,  who  were  educated 
in  the  Kansas  Agricultural  College,  Groves  has  applied  scientific 
methods  to  his  farming  operations.  By  this  means  he  has  been 
able  to  raise  his  maximum  yield  on  a  single  acre  to  395  bushels.  He 
has  recently  erected  a  handsome  modern  house  which  a  writer  in 
The  Country  Gentleman  describes  as  "a  twenty-two  room  palace 
overlooking  a  503  acre  farm."  A  farmer  like  Groves,  however, 
belongs  to  what  I  have  described  as  the  middle  class,  composed  of 
men  who  operate  on  a  relatively  large  scale  and  with  their  own 
capital. 

Although  the  great  majority  of  the  slaves  were  employed  at  work 
in  the  fields  there  were,  on  every  large  plantation  in  the  South  before 
the  Civil  War  those  who  were  employed  as  carpenters,  stonemasons, 
and  blacksmiths.  In  all  the  larger  cities,  also,  there  were  a  certain 
number  of  Negro  mechanics  who  hired  their  own  time  and  were 
given  a  good  many  of  the  privileges  of  the  free  Negroes.  Negro 
slaves  were  also  employed  as  sailors,  as  locomotive  firemen,  as  well 


NEGRO  HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIVING  155 

as  in  other  positions  requiring  skill  and  a  certain  amount  of  responsi- 
bility. Slaves  of  this  class  were  better  treated  than  the  ordinary 
field  hand.  They  were  better  housed,  better  clothed  and  better  fed, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  the  house  servants,  were  allowed  more 
privileges  than  the  other  people  on  the  plantation.  At  the  close 
of  the  War,  therefore,  there  were  a  considerable  number  of  trained 
workmen  among  the  former  slaves.  Of  all  the  people  who  came 
out  of  slavery  these  were,  perhaps,  as  a  class,  the  most  competent 
self-respecting,  and  best  fitted  for  freedom. 

In  spite  of  this  fact  Negroes  have  probably  made  less  advance 
in  the  skilled  trades  than  in  other  occupations.  The  reason  is  not 
far  to  seek.  With  the  growth  of  cities  and  manufacturing  indus- 
tries since  emancipation,  great  changes  have  taken  place  in  the 
character  and  condition  of  skilled  labor  in  the  South.  The  cities 
have  drawn  more  heavily  upon  the  white  than  the  colored  portion 
of  the  populations  and,  whenever  there  has  been  a  change  or  reor- 
ganization in  an  industry,  the  poor  white  man  has  profitted  by  it 
more  than  the  Negro.  The  cotton  mills,  the  majority  of  which  have 
been  built  since  the  war,  employ  almost  exclusively  white  labor 
and  it  is  only  recently  that  Negroes  have  anywhere  been  employed 
as  operatives  in  any  of  the  spinning  industries.  In  certain  occupa- 
tions, like  that  of  barber  and  waiter,  the  Negro  has  been  very  largely 
crowded  out  by  foreign  competition. 

Labor  unions  have  almost  invariably  sought  to  keep  Negroes 
out  of  the  skilled  trades.  In  those  occupations,  however,  in  which 
the  Negro  has  shown  his  ability  to  compete  and  has  managed  to 
gain  a  sufficient  foothold  to  compel  recognition,  as  for  example  in 
the  coal  and  iron  industries,  the  timber  and  turpentine  industries 
and,  to  a  less  extent,  in  the  building  trades,  labor  unions  have  made 
earnest  effort  to  bring  Negroes  into  the  unions  and  have  thus  insured 
for  them  the  same  wages  and  ultimately  the  same  standards  of 
living  as  prevail  among  white  artisans  of  the  same  class. 

As  a  rule  the  Negro  has  made  less  progress  in  occupations  in 
which  he  formerly  had  a  monopoly,  like  that  of  barbering  and  wait- 
ing, than  in  new  occupations  into  which  he  has  entered  since  eman- 
cipation. Wherever  Negroes  have  had  to  win  their  way  by  compe- 
tition with  the  white  man  they  are,  as  a  rule,  not  only  more  efficient 
laborers,  but  they  have  invariably  adopted  the  white  man's  standards 
of  living. 


156  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

There  are,  particularly  in  every  large  city  as  well  as  in  every 
small  town  in  the  South,  multitudes  of  Negroes  who  live  meanly 
and  miserably.  They  make  their  homes  in  some  neglected  or  aban- 
doned quarters  of  the  city  and  maintain  a  slovenly,  irregular  and 
unhealthy  sort  of  existence,  performing  odd  jobs  of  one  kind  or 
another.  Very  few  colored  people  of  the  artisan  class,  however,  live 
in  these  so-called  "Negro  quarters."  There  are  always  other  quar- 
ters of  the  city,  frequently  in  the  neighborhood  of  some  Negro  school, 
where  there  will  be  another  sort  of  community  and  in  this  com- 
munity a  large  proportion  of  the  people  will  be  composed  of  Negro 
artisans  and  small  tradesmen.  They  will  live,  for  the  most  part, 
in  little  three-  or  four-room  houses  and,  if  they  happen  to  own  their 
homes,  there  will  be  a  vine  training  over  the  porch,  curtains  in  the 
windows,  a  rug  or  carpet  on  the  floor.  The  children  who  go  to 
school  will  be  neatly  and  tidily  dressed.  There  will  be  a  few  books 
in  the  front  bedroom,  a  little  garden  in  the  rear  of  the  house  and  a 
general  air  of  thrift  and  comfort  about  the  place. 

In  the  course  of  time,  if  the  family  continue  to  prosper,  the 
children  will  be  sent  to  a  secondary  or  high  school.  The  eldest 
will  go  away  to  a  normal  school  or  college  of  some  kind,  and  the 
eldest  boy  will  go,  perhaps,  to  Tuskegee  or  some  other  industrial 
school.  When  these  children  return  home  they  will  sometimes  go 
to  work  to  earn  money  enough  to  help  other  younger  members  of 
the  family  to  enter  the  schools  which  they  have  attended  and  thus, 
in  time,  the  whole  family  will  manage  to  get  a  moderate  amount  of 
education. 

When  all  the  members  of  the  family  work  together  in  this  way 
there  are  the  best  possible  relations  in  the  home.  It  is  in  those 
homes,  of  which  there  are  unfortunately  too  many  in  every  town 
and  city,  where  the  father  works  irregularly  and  the  mother  is  com- 
pelled to  do  day  labor,  that  one  meets  idle  and  neglected  children, 
a  large  proportion  of  whom  grow  up  to  recruit  the  shiftless,  loafing 
and  criminal  class. 

As  a  rule  the  Negro  artisan  is  thrifty.  The  following  budget 
is  that  of  a  journeyman  printer. 


NEGRO  HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIVING  157 

Living  expenses $240 

Clothing 60 

Church  and  school 12 

Medicine  and  medical  attendance 16 

Insurance,  taxes  and  interest 84 

Incidentals 48 

Savings 150 

Total $610 

This  man  lives  in  a  neat  five-room  cottage  which  he  owns. 
His  wife  conducts  a  little  store  and  in  addition  to  his  work  as  jour- 
neyman printer  he  conducts  a  little  Sunday  school  paper.  He  is 
district  superintendent  of  Sundaj''  schools  in  the  neighboring  county, 
and  employs  his  Sundays  in  visiting  the  Sunday  schools  under  his 
charge  and  in  circulating,  incidentally,  the  paper  he  publishes,  so 
that,  at  the  present  time,  his  annual  revenue  is  considerably  larger 
than  his  earnings  at  his  trade. 

Negroes  who  are  employed  in  industries  in  which  the  laborers 
are  organized,  as  for  example  the  building  trades  and  the  coal  and 
iron  industries,  earn  more,  but,  perhaps  save  less.  Negro  miners 
earn  frequently  as  much  as  from  $100  to  $150  per  month.  These 
men  live  well,  according  to  their  light,  but  they  are  notoriously 
wasteful  and  improvident  and,  except  in  those  cases  where  their 
employers  have  taken  an  interest  in  their  welfare,  they  have  made 
little  if  any  advance  in  their  standards  of  living  over  the  farm 
laborers  or  tenant  farmers  from  which  they,  in  most  instances,  are 
recruited. 

Among  the  free  Negroes  in  the  South  there  were,  in  slavery 
times,  a  certain  number  of  planters  and  slave  owners.  Some  of  the 
Negro  planters  of  Louisiana  were  wealthy,  for  four  or  five  of  them 
were  said  in  1853  to  be  worth  between  four  and  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  each.  Others  were  small  traders,  peddlers,  blacksmiths, 
shoemakers  and  so  forth.  In  some  of  the  older  cities  of  the  South, 
like  Charleston,  S.  C.,  there  was  a  little  aristocracy  of  free  Negroes, 
who  counted  several  generations  of  free  ancestors  and  because  of 
their  industry,  thrift  and  good  reputation  among  their  white  neigh- 
bors, enjoyed  privileges  and  immunities  that  were  not  granted  to 
other  free  Negroes  in  the  South. 

Not  only  in  Charleston  but  in  Baltimore,  Washington,  D.  C., 
Philadelphia,  New  York  and  New  Orleans  there  were  similar  groups 


158  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

of  free  colored  people,  who  were  well  to  do  and  had  obtained  a 
degree  of  culture  that  raised  them  above  the  mass  of  the  Negro 
people,  free  or  slave,  by  whom  they  were  surrounded.  Associated 
with  the  free  Negroes  were  a  certain  number  of  privileged  slaves 
who  were  frequently  the  illegitimate  sons  of  their  masters. 

It  was  from  this  class  of  free  Negroes  and  privileged  slaves 
that,  a  little  later  on,  the  professional  class  among  the  Negroes,  the 
lawyers,  the  physicians  and  to  a  very  large  extent  the  teachers,  were 
recruited.  It  was  not  until  after  politics  as  a  profession  for  Negroes 
began  to  decline  in  the  South,  that  a  number  of  men  who  had  entered 
politics  directly  after  the  Civil  War  began  to  go  into  business.  As 
they  had,  in  many  instances,  either  by  inheritance  or  as  a  result 
of  their  savings  while  they  were  serving  the  government,  succeeded 
in  accumulating  a  certain  amoung  of  capital,  they  frequently  went 
into  some  sort  of  real  estate  or  banking  business. 

About  1890  the  first  successful  bank  was  started  by  Negroes. 
There  are  now  more  than  sixty  such  banks  in  the  United  States. 
Either  in  connection  with  these  banks  or  independently  there  have 
been  organized  small  investment  companies  for  the  purchase  or  sale 
of  real  estate  and,  as  the  demand  for  homes  by  Negroes  of  all  classes 
has  grown  rapidly  in  recent  years,  the  number  of  these  institutions 
has  multiplied. 

As  business  opportunities  have  increased,  the  number  of  Negro 
business  men  has  been  recruited  from  the  professional  classes.  Very 
frequently  Negro  physicans  have  started  drug  stores  in  connection 
with  the  practice  of  their  profession,  and  from  that  they  have  gone 
into  real  estate  or  banking. 

As  the  opportunities  for  Negro  lawyers  have  been  small,  par- 
ticularly in  the  South,  most  of  them  have  connected  themselves  with 
some  sort  of  business  in  which  their  legal  knowledge  was  of  value — 
real  estate,  insurance,  saving  and  investment  associations,  and  so 
forth. 

One  of  the  wealthiest  Negroes  in  the  South  today  started  as 
a  physician,  made  his  money  in  the  drug  business  and  in  real  estate, 
and  has  since  become  a  banker.  The  president  of  the  largest  Negro 
bank  in  the  South,  the  Alabama  Penny  Savings  Bank,  was  formerly 
a  minister. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  the  ranks  of  the  Negro  business  men  have 
been  recruited  from  the  members  of  the  educated  classes. 


NEGRO  HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIVING  159 

However,  the  first  Negro  business  men  were,  not  as  a  rule 
educated.  In  the  North,  before  the  war,  the  most  successful  Negro 
business  men  were  barbers  and  caterers.  In  the  South,  directly 
after  the  war  several  Negroes  who  had  made  small  fortunes  started 
in  the  saloon  business.  They  had  been  employed,  perhaps,  as  por- 
ters and  bartenders  and  eventually  went  into  business  for  themselves. 
There  were  special  opportunities  in  the  whisky  business,  because  in 
the  bar  rooms  whites  and  blacks  met  upon  something  like  equality. 
It  was  not  until  recently  that  the  regulators  of  the  liquor  traffic 
in  certain  cities  required  separate  bars  for  the  different  races.  Even 
now  there  is  usually  a  back  door  for  Negroes.  Sometimes,  where 
the  bulk  of  the  trade  is  supplied  by  Negroes,  they  have  the  front 
door  and  the  whites  the  back. 

In  certain  other  business-like  undertakings,  in  which  Negroes 
have  found  that  they  could  get  better  service  from  black  men  than 
from  white,  Negroes  early  found  a  business  opportunity  which  they 
have  since  largely  exploited.  The  wealthiest  Negro  in  New  York 
today  is  an  undertaker. 

A  number  of  Negroes,  who  began  as  journeymen  in  the  build- 
ing trades,  rose  to  the  position  of  contractors  and  then  became  large 
landlords,  living  upon  their  rents.  In  one  comparatively  large  city 
in  the  South  the  most  successful  baker  and  in  another,  the  most 
successful  fish  dealer,  are  Negroes.  These  men  have  been  successful, 
not  because  of  any  special  opportunity  opened  to  them,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Negro  physician  and  the  Negro  undertaker,  but  because 
they  were  enterprising,  and  knew  how  to  handle  the  trade.  Both 
these  men  do  the  larger  part  of  their  business  with  the  white  rather 
than  with  the  colored  people. 

The  president  of  the  largest  and  most  successful  Negro  insur- 
ance company  in  the  South,  the  North  Carolina  Mutual  and  Provi- 
dent Association,  was  formerly  a  barber.  In  most  instances  the 
successful  business  men  have  been  men  with  very  meagre  education 
and  very  few  opportunities.  These  pioneers,  however,  have  made 
opportunities  for  others  and  they  have  accumulated  an  amount  of 
capital  and  experience  which  has  laid  the  foundation  for  an  en- 
terprising middle  class,  now  rapidly  advancing  in  wealth  and  in 
culture. 

As  soon  as  a  Negro  has  succeeded  in  accumulating  a  little 
money,  his  first  ambition  is  to  build  himself  a  comfortable  home. 


160  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

At  first  the  Negro's  attempts  at  home  building  are,  as  might  be 
expected,  a  little  crude.  For  example,  if  he  plans  his  own  house, 
he  usually  puts  the  bathroom  off  the  kitchen.  After  he  gets  a 
bathroom  he  will  probably  want  to  have  some  pictures  on  the  walls. 
The  thing  that  strikes  his  fancy  is  usually  something  in  a  large 
gilt  frame  such  as  one  can  buy  cheap  in  an  auction  store.  Then  he 
acquires  a  gilt  lamp,  an  onyx  table,  perhaps,  and  a  certain  amount 
of  other  furniture  of  the  same  sort. 

If,  in  addition  to  a  comfortable  income,  he  has  gained  a  mod- 
erate amount  of  education,  he  wants  to  travel,  and  see  something 
of  the  world.  This  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Negro,  when- 
ever he  can  find  excuse  for  it,  serves,  however,  to  correct  his  first 
crude  attempts  at  home  decoration  and  to  widen  his  views  about 
the  value  and  convenience  of  a  well-planned  house.  The  numerous 
conventions  which  every  year  bring  together  large  numbers  of 
Negroes  from  all  over  the  country  provide  an  excuse  for  travel. 
The  fact  that  it  is  difficult  for  Negroes  to  get  hotel  accommoda- 
tions in  many  parts  of  the  country  put  upon  every  colored  man 
who  has  a  comfortable  house,  the  obligation  of  opening  his  house 
to  every  member  of  his  race  who  comes  well  recommended.  Some 
times  Negroes  who  have  been  a  little  extravagant  in  building  and 
furnishing  a  house  are  very  glad  to  rent  rooms  to  a  select  class  of 
travelers.  In  any  case,  Negroes  are  naturally  hospitable.  They 
take  a  very  proper  pride  in  their  houses,  when  they  happen  to  have 
good  ones,  and  are  always  glad  to  entertain  visitors. 

As  a  result  of  this  custom  of  keeping  open  house  Negroes  are 
doubtless  more  disposed  than  they  otherwise  would  be  to  take  pride 
in  the  care  and  decoration  of  their  homes.  There  may  be  something, 
also,  in  the  explanation  which  one  colored  man  made  for  building 
and  equipping  a  home  in  a  style  which  seemed  a  little  beyond  his 
means.  He  said:  "We  may  have  been,  wife  and  I,  a  little  extrava- 
gant in  building  and  furnishing  our  house,  but  the  house  in  which 
we  were  born  had  none  of  these  things,  and  we  are  trying  to  make 
up  to  our  children  what  we  missed  when  we  were  little."  The 
result  of  this  is  that  for  the  Negro  travel  is  often  an  education  in 
home  building.  In  every  home  he  enters  he  notices  closely  and 
when  he  returns  home  he  profits  by  what  he  learns. 

Negroes  of  the  better  class  not  only  travel  a  great  deal  in  this 
country  but  a  considerable  number  of  educated  Negroes  go  abroad 


NEGRO  HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIVING  161 

every  year  and  from  these  journeys  they  bring  back  not  only  many 
new  and  happy  impressions  but  also  a  considerable  amount  of  informa- 
tion in  the  art  of  living  that  they  do  not  have  the  opportunity  to 
get  at  home.  In  the  course  of  time  all  this  experience  and  infor- 
mation filter  down  and  are  used  by  the  well-to-do  class  of  Negroes 
everywhere. 

The  number  of  really  cultured  Negro  homes  is,  as  might  be 
expected,  small.  One  reason  is  that  thoroughly  educated  Negroes 
are  as  yet  few  in  number.  The  handsomest  home  I  visited  was  that 
of  a  physician  in  Wilmington,  Del.  This  man  was  living  in  a  fine 
old  ante-bellum  mansion  with  extensive  grounds,  which  has  recently 
sold,  I  have  been  informed,  for  something  like  $50,000.  This  house 
not  only  had  the  charm  of  individuality,  but  it  was  furnished,  so 
far  as  I  am  capable  of  judging,  in  perfect  good  taste.  It  contained 
one  of  the  best  general  libraries  I  have  seen  in  a  private  house. 
The  mistress  of  this  house  was  a  graduate  of  Wellesley  College. 
There  are  perhaps  a  dozen  other  houses  owned  by  Negroes  in  the 
United  States  that  could  compare  with  this. 

The  entertainment  in  a  Negro  house  is  likely  to  be  lavish.  No 
matter  how  frugal  the  family  may  live  at  other  times,  there  must 
be  no  stinting  of  the  entertainment  of  guests.  Not  infrequently 
it  will  happen  that  a  young  colored  man  who  has  pinched  and 
struggled  to  save  money  while  he  was  getting  an  education,  or  while 
he  was  struggling  to  get  himself  established  in  business,  will  spend 
all  his  income  as  soon  as  he  reaches  a  point  where  he  is  admitted  into 
the  upper  grades  of  colored  society. 

One  man,  a  physician  in  a  northern  city,  with  an  income  which 
averages  between  $5,000  and  $6,000  a  year,  showed  me  his  bank 
book  covering  a  period  of  eighteen  years  during  which  time  he  had 
spent  $103,000.  And  yet  this  same  man,  during  the  time  that  he 
was  working,  sometimes  as  a  school  teacher  and  at  other  times  as 
a  house  servant  on  a  salary  of  $25  or  $30  a  month,  had  saved  $3,000 
to  put  himself  through  college.  Another  young  man  told  me  that 
he  had  saved  enough  money  as  a  porter  in  a  Negro  barber  shop, 
while  he  was  learning  the  trade,  to  buy  a  shop  of  his  own  but  had 
lost  it,  when,  after  becoming  the  proprietor  of  the  shop,  he  was 
admitted  to  what  he  called  "society." 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  accurately  the  income  ef  the  well- 
to-do  Negroes  in  this  country.  There  are  two  and  perhaps  three 


162  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

physicians  whose  incomes  from  their  practice  alone  amounts  to  $10,- 
000  a  year.  There  are  several  lawyers  who  make  as  much.  A  con- 
siderable number  of  men  in  business  or  in  other  professions  make 
considerably  more.  As  a  rule,  the  business  men  save  their  money 
but  men  in  the  professions  usually  spend  it. 

The  average  income  of  a  Negro  physician  in  the  South  is  not 
over  $1,500  but  very  frequently  enterprising  physicians  will  add  to 
their  regular  earnings  by  maintaining  a  sanitarium  or  private  hos- 
pital. 

The  most  popular  profession  among  the  Negroes  is,  perhaps, 
that  of  teaching,  one  reason  being  that,  in  the  past  comparatively 
little  preparation  was  required  to  enter  it.  Neither  teaching  nor  the 
ministry  is  as  popular  as  it  used  to  be.  One  reason  is  the  demand 
for  men  and  women  with  better  preparation;  another  is  the  poor 
pay.  The  better  schools  are,  however,  increasing  salaries,  particu- 
larly those  of  principals  and  of  a  higher  grade  of  teachers.  The  fol- 
lowing budgets  indicate  the  standard  of  living  among  the  better 
paid  teachers: 

1 
Budget  Estimate  for  Year. 

Insurance,  taxes,  etc $168 

Living  expenses 384 

Medicine  and  medical  services 96 

Clothing 144 

Miscellaneous  and  incidental 66 

Literature 42 

Savings  and  investment 300 

Total $1,200" 

Living  expense  does  not  include  vegetables  from  garden  or  house  rent, 
which  is  paid  by  institution. 

0 

Allowance  to  mother $120 

Charity,  benevolences  and  religious 150 

Property 300 

Groceries 300 

/  Life. . .  .86 

Insurance  <  ,,        ,    ,  , 

[  Household  goods 6  92 

Upkeep  of  house 100 

Education  of  sister 90 

Clothing 275 

Books,  magazines  and  papers 25 

Total $1,452 

Fuel,  light,  house  rent  furnished  by  state.  Total  income  between  $1,800 
and  $2,000. 


NEGRO  HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIVING  163 

The  first  of  these  budgets  is  that  of  one  of  the  better  paid  teachers 
of  one  of  the  best  of  the  larger  industrial  schools.  The  second  is 
that  of  the  principal  of  another  of  these  institutions. 

Negroes  of  all  classes  are  willing  to  make  and  do  make  great 
sacrifices  to  secure  the  education  of  their  children,  but  in  the  upper 
classes,  where  the  children  are  few,  they  are  usually  spoiled;  while 
on  the  plantation,  where  they  are  many,  the  family  discipline  is  likely 
to  be  severe. 

Home  life  among  the  educated  and  well-to-do  Negroes  appears 
as  a  rule,  to  be  happy  and  wholesome;  but  nowhere  is  this  more  true 
than  in  those  families  where  the  parents,  though  educated,  the  in- 
come is  so  small  that  all  members  of  the  family  are  impelled  to 
work  together  to  maintain  the  standards  of  living  and  secure  for  the 
children  an  education,  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  that  which  the 
parents  have  enjoyed. 

The  Negro  has  made  great  progress  in  many  directions  during 
the  past  half  century,  but  nowhere  more  so  than  in  his  home,  and 
nowhere,  it  may  be  added,  do  the  fruits  of  education  show  to  better 
advantage  than  in  the  home  of  the  educated  Negro. 


RACE  RELATIONSHIP  IN  THE  SOUTH 

BY  W.  D.  WEATHERFORD,  PH.D.,1 
Nashville,  Term. 

Perhaps  the  most  difficult  task  which  one  ever  sets  for  himself  is 
an  attempt  to  understand  even  imperfectly,  much  more  difficult  to 
trace  with  any  degree  of  scientific  accuracy,  the  feelings  that  lie  behind 
any  relationships  of  human  beings  who  are  brought  into  close  juxta- 
position in  life.  This  is  all  the  more  difficult  when  the  peoples  brought 
into  such  relationship  are  of  widely  differing  racial  types.  Here  one 
has  no  statistics  that  are  accurate,  and  it  is  even  difficult  to  get  men 
from  either  side  to  express  themselves  freely.  Yet  there  are  certain 
attitudes  which  come  to  the  surface  in  thought  and  action,  which 
enable  the  careful  observer  to  sense  this  inter-racial  feeling. 

The  attitude  of  the  two  races  in  the  South  towards  each  other 
naturally  shows  three  types  or  tendencies,  each  corresponding  to  a 
rather  clearly  marked  period  of  history  in  the  development  of  the 
South.  Of  the  first  two  of  these  attitudes  we  need  speak  but  briefly. 

The  first  period  of  race  relationship  in  the  South  runs  from  1619, 
the  time  of  the  landing  of  the  first  slaves  by  a  Dutch  trading  vessel, 
up  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War.  It  may  be  briefly  charac- 
terized as  an  era  of  paternalism  on  the  part  of  the  majority  of  slave 
owners,  and  of  faithful,  childlike  loyalty  on  the  part  of  the  most  of 
the  slaves.  We  are  too  far  away  from  slavery,  and  see  its  evils  too 
clearly  to  make  any  attempt  whatever  to  justify  it,  or  even  to  gloss 
over  its  hardships.  But  if  we  are  to  understand  the  present  relations 
of  the  races,  a  word  must  be  said  about  this  earlier  attitude.  That 
this  period  was  marked  by  good  feeling  on  both  sides  in  the  vast 
majority  of  cases,  I  believe  no  honest  investigator  could  doubt.  The 
great  mass  of  slaves  were  not  owned  by  the  big  planters  and  worked 
in  gangs  driven  by  a  cruel  overseer,  but  rather  they  were  distributed  in 
small  groups,  on  the  small  plantations,  where  they  had  a  large  degree 
of  personal  attention  from  both  master  and  mistress.  I  have  known 

1  The  author  of  this  paper  is  a  Southern  man,  trained  in  a  Southern  uni- 
versity, and  has  travelled  throughout  the  South  during  the  last  twelve  years. 

164 


RACE  RELATIONSHIP  IN  THE  SOUTH  165 

and  talked  with  scores  of  these  faithful  slaves,  and  rarely  have  I  found 
other  than  a  feeling  of  deep  love  and  loyalty  to  that  generation  of 
Southern  white  people,  who,  although,  they  were  mistaken  in  the 
defense  of  slavery,  nevertheless  tempered  their  mistake  with  a  most 
kindly  heart. 

These  were  the  days  before  men's  passions  had  been  aroused, 
and  when  the  better  nature  of  most  men — not  all — was  in  the  ascen- 
dency. This  better  nature  expressed  itself  in  many  ways.  For  one, 
the  Southern  church  assumed  a  definite  responsibility  for  the  Chris- 
tianizing of  the  slaves.  In  1860,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South  had  327  white  missionaries 
in  the  field  working  for  the  evangelization  of  the  slaves,  and  the  budget 
of  that  one  church  for  that  year  for  Negro  evangelization  was  more 
than  $86,000.  All  the  other  Southern  denominations  were  having  a 
large  share  in  this  type  of  work.  Bishop  W.  R.  Lambuth,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  who  is  one  of  the  best  authorities 
on  the  Negro,  is  now  saying  that  one  of  the  greatest  pieces  of  mis- 
sionary work  the  world  has  ever  seen  was  the  evangelization  of  the 
Negro  in  this  first  period  of  his  slavery.  This  fact  is  significant  to 
us  here  only  as  it  shows  us  what  the  relation  of  the  whites  was  toward 
blacks  at  this  early  period.  On  the  other  hand,  the  attitude  of  the 
Negroes  was  one  of  loyalty  and  affection — omitting,  of  course,  those 
who  were  worked  in  large  gangs  under  the  cruel  overseer.  No  better 
proof  of  the  truth  of  this  statement  could  be  asked  than  the  simple 
fact  that  during  all  the  dark  days  of  the  Civil  War  the  Negroes  were 
entrusted  with  the  lives,  the  property,  and  the  honor  of  the  Southern 
white  homes — and  no  Negro  was  found  faithless  in  this  sacred  trust. 
Such  faithfulness  and  loyalty  were  not  the  fruit  of  hatred,  but  of  love. 
If  one  visits  some  of  the  old  plantations,  with  the  "big  house"  and  the 
long  rows  of  whitewashed  cabins  which  flank  its  sides — one  can  still 
find  many  signs  of  this  kindly  feeling  between  the  races.  But  this 
particular  relationship  is  gone  forever,  and  we  may  well  be  thankful 
it  is.  Perhaps  some  will  regret  more  that  the  feeling  begotten  by 
that  relationship  has  almost  as  completely  disappeared. 

The  second  period  of  race  relationship  in  the  South  may  be  called, 
for  want  of  a  better  term,  the  period  of  reconstruction.  This  period 
extends  from  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  to  the  early  nineties.  It  is 
marked  by  a  growing  distrust  on  the  part  of  the  white  man,  and  a 
growing  hatred  on  the  part  of  the  black  man.  It  is  one  of  those  sad 


166  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

and  unfortunate  periods  when  all  men  seem  to  be  in  a  sense  blind. 
The  North  felt  that  the  South  was  attempting  to  forge  a  new  chain 
of  slavery  for  the  Negro;  the  South  felt  that  the  North  was  trying  to 
enslave  the  white  man  by  putting  the  ignorant  and  inexperienced 
into  the  saddle  of  government;  the  Negro  was  the  football  between 
the  two,  hardly  daring  to  trust  the  Southern  man,  scarcely  believing 
in  the  sincerity  of  the  Northern  man — feeling  himself  ground  between 
two  relentless  mill  stones — and  knowing  not  whither  to  turn.  In  all 
this  dark  period  there  are  only  two  redeeming  rays  of  light.  One  of 
these  consists  in  the  fact  that  the  Negro  was  never  denied  a  chance 
in  the  South  to  make  an  honest  dollar.  Whatever  other  injustices 
he  may  have  suffered  he  was  never  denied  the  right  to  work,  provided 
he  had  been  trained,  as  most  of  them  had,  through  the  thousands  of 
plantations  which  were  highly  practical  trade  schools.  Dr.  Booker  T. 
Washington  has  said  in  a  dozen  different  ways  that  the  South  is  and 
always  has  been  the  Negroes'  greatest  field  of  industrial  opportunity. 

The  second  ray  of  hope  in  these  dark  days  lay  in  the  fact  that 
both  South  and  North  realized  that  the  Negro  must  be  trained  and 
made  efficient.  The  North  poured  its  thousands  of  dollars  into  mission 
schools,  and  added  thereto  scores  of  priceless  and  unselfish  lives  to 
bring  the  message,  while  the  South  as  early  as  the  seventies  settled  the 
question,  once  for  all,  that  the  Negro  should  have  a  chance  for  train- 
ing. In  the  years  that  have  passed  the  South  has  put  multiplied 
millions  of  dollars  into  this  enterprise  which,  however  discouraging  in 
the  past,  is  now  beginning  to  show  signs  of  rich  fruitage. 

The  terrible  results  of  the  period  of  reconstruction  lay  in  the  fact 
that  the  old  feeling  of  love  and  loyalty,  trust  and  helpfulness  between 
Southern  whites  and  Southern  blacks  was  almost  entirely  broken 
down,  and  there  was  a  severe  separation  of  the  Southern  white  man 
and  the  Southern  Negro.  The  two  grew  apart  and  soon  began  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  thought  and  life  each  of  the  other.  The  old  intimate 
relation  of  the  two  was  gone  and  nothing  took  its  place.  It  was  but 
natural  that  this  ignorance  should  soon  breed  contempt  and  later 
hatred. 

This  in  a  word  characterizes  the  first  two  periods  of  race  relation- 
ships. One  says  they  are  behind  him;  another  does  not  care  to  dwell  on 
them  at  length.  There  is  no  more  pitiable  piece  of  demagoguery  going 
than  that  practiced  by  some  who  dwell  exclusively  on  the  past  kind- 
ness of  the  white  man,  the  loyalty  of  the  Negro,  and  the  horror  of 


RACE  RELATIONSHIP  IN  THE  SOUTH  167 

reconstruction,  forgetting  the  present  duties  that  fall  to  each  citizen 
whether  white  or  black.  These  things  are  of  the  past — and  let  the 
dead  past  bury  its  dead.  We  are  now  interested  in  what  the  living 
relationship  is  between  white  and  black  in  the  South. 

It  was  not  until  far  into  the  nineties  that  the  third  period  of  this 
race  relationship  began  to  dawn.  With  the  coming  of  such  men  as 
Chancellor  D.  C.  Barrow  of  the  University  of  Georgia,  Bishop 
Charles  B.  Galloway  of  Mississippi — and,  more  definitely,  with  the 
coming  of  Mr.  Edgar  Gardiner  Murphy  of  Alabama — whose  book 
on  the  Present  Soufh  marked  a  new  era  of  thought — with  the  coming 
of  these  and  others  likeminded  the  new  epoch  was  slowly  ushered  in. 
But  even  the  last  decade  of  the  last  century  saw  little  progress,  and 
the  first  hah'  of  the  first  decade  of  our  present  century  was  scarcely 
more  than  the  budding  of  a  larger  hope  that  has  been  blossoming 
out  into  a  rose  of  beauty  in  these  last  five  years.  I  do  not  believe  it 
to  be  an  over-statement  that  the  last  five  years  have  seen  the  growth 
of  sentiment,  more  constructive  work  done,  more  ripening  of  what 
before  was  only  unmatured  thought,  than  in  all  the  time  from  recon- 
struction on.  It  is  with  a  glad  heart,  therefore,  that  one  attempts  to 
measure  in  some  degree  the  growth  of  this  idea  of  brotherhood  between 
the  races  during  these  last  five  years. 

As  I  remarked  before,  we  cannot  rely  on  statistics  to  guide  us 
here,  but  must  choose,  as  our  guides  in  estimating  present  feeling, 
those  events  and  thought  currents  that  rise  to  the  surface  of  Southern 
life.  It  must  be  largely  the  laboratory  method  of  first  hand  investiga- 
tion, which  will  furnish  the  data  for  such  a  statement  as  this.  I 
shall  attempt,  therefore,  to  mention  a  few  events  and  tendencies 
which  will  throw  light  on  the  present  feeling  existing  between  the 
races. 

1.  Perhaps  the  tendency  most  easily  discerned  is  the  growing 
appreciation  on  the  part  of  the  Southern  white  man  of  a  real  system 
of  training  for  the  Negro.  As  before  stated  the  Southern  States 
deliberately  set  their  faces  toward  such  a  policy  during  the  seventies. 
Since  that  time  more  than  $200,000,000  have  been  spent  on  the  Negro 
public  schools,  and  of  course  most  of  this  has  been  paid  by  the  white 
tax  payer,  though  two  corrective  words  should  be  said  in  this  connec- 
tion. First,  the  Negro  is  rapidly  coming  to  bear  his  share  of  the  taxes 
for  education  since  he  now  owns  property  valued  at  $700,000,000. 
The  second  word  is  that  ultimately  the  labor  which  produces  wealth 


168  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

pays  the  taxes,  and  the  Negro,  as  the  laborer  of  the  South,  has  always 
produced  much  of  the  wealth  which  has  paid  the  taxes  for  education. 
But  there  is  a  new  attitude  toward  the  training  of  the  Negro. 
Somehow  in  the  past  we  have  offered  this  training — such  as  it  was — 
but  half  way  hoped  it  would  not  be  taken.  In  fact  many  have  be- 
lieved that  it  would  be  harmful  if  taken.  But  I  believe  we  are  seeing 
a  new  light.  We  are  not  only  offering  a  better  training  to  the  Negro 
now  than  ever  before,  but  we  are  also  eager  to  see  him  take  advantage 
of  this  training  and  most  of  us  believe  in  our  heart  of  hearts  that  he 
will  be  a  better  man,  a  better  citizen,  and  a  more  efficient  economic 
factor  if  he  will  take  all  the  training  offered  and  more.  There  is  no 
danger  now  that  the  Southern  white  man  will  retrench  in  his  plans 
for  developing  the  Negro  race.  The  demagogues  have  blasted  away 
at  this  rock  of  our  faith  with  all  the  political  dynamite  at  their  disposal 
but  the  rock  is  unmoved.  Thanks  to  the  good  common  sense  and  the 
Christian  spirit  of  the  South,  Mr.  Vardaman,  >tr.  Blease,  and  others 
likeminded,  who  would  give  to  the  Negro  only  what  he  pays,  are  fight- 
ing a  losing  battle.  The  whole  South  has  become  convinced  that  the 
Negro  must  have  a  chance — and  in  this  we  are  really  reaching  a  sense 
of  democracy  which  we  have  never  before  known. 

2.  This  leads  me  to  a  second  indication  of  a  growing  sense  of 
friendliness  on  the  part  of  the  Southern  white  man — a  new  appreci- 
ation of  the  value  of  naked  humanity.    Not  interest  in  a  man  because 
he  is  cultured,  or  wealthy,  or  influential,  but  because  he  is  human. 
This  is  the  basis  of  all  democracy,  and  incidentally  one  might  remark 
it  is  a  higher  democracy  than  Thomas  Jefferson  ever  dreamed  of. 
This  is  coming  not  only  in  the  South  but  also  slowly,  all  over  the  world. 
It  is  more  than  the  square  deal  economically  of  which  we  have  heard — • 
it  is  respecting  and  appreciating  and  having  a  friendly  attitude  toward 
all  humanity.    This  feeling  finds  expression  in  the  new  hatred  of  lynch- 
ing which  is  growing  in  the  South.    We  are  coming  to  see  that  we  can- 
not lynch  Negroes  and  continue  to  hold  our  sense  of  respect  for  hu- 
manity as  humanity.    In  spite  of  a  few  demogogues  and  hot  heads 
who  get  their  names  in  the  associated  press  as  advocates  of  summary 
dealings  with  certain  types  of  Negroes,  the  determination  is  growing 
in  the  hearts  of  thousands  of  the  best  Southern  whites  that  the  lynch- 
ing of  Negroes  must  stop. 

3.  There  is  also  a  decided  movement  on  the  part  of  the  lawyers, 
business  men  and  others  to  see  that  more  justice  is  done  to  the  Negroes 


RACE  RELATIONSHIP  IN  THE  SOUTH  169 

in  the  courts.    All  of  these  things  are  the  outcome  of  this  new  respect 
for  the  humanity  of  the  Negro. 

4.  A  still  further  result  of  this  appreciation  of  the  sacredness  of 
all  persons  lies  in  the  newer  forms  of  social  service  which  are  being 
promoted  among  Negroes.  Never  before  has  there  been  so  much  talk 
about  the  condition  of  sanitation  in  the  midst  of  which  Negroes  livo. 
Never  has  the  health  of  the  Negro  elicited  so  much  attention  as  now. 
Never  has  the  housing  question  had  so  much  careful,  painstaking 
study  as  has  been  undertaken  within  the  last  five  years.  The  Southern 
Sociological  Congress,  which  met  in  its  second  annual  session  in  At- 
lanta, Georgia,  last  April  studied  six  great  questions  in  its  section 
meetings.  One  of  these  questions  was  the  Negro  life.  There  were  six 
hundred  delegates — including  perhaps  more  than  a  hundred  Negroes 
who  were  regular  members  of  the  Congress,  and  at  least  four  hundred 
of  the  six  hundred  delegates  were  regularly  in  attendance  at  the  Race 
Problem  section — while  the  remaining  two  hundred  attended  the  other 
five  sections.  For  three  days  we  four  hundred — white  and  black — 
discussed  in  a  perfect  spirit  of  harmony  and  helpfulness  the  big  prob- 
lems of  our  relation  to  each  other  and  our  basis  of  cooperation!  We 
discussed  health,  housing,  sanitation,  education,  religious  life,  eco- 
nomic progress — all  in  the  spirit  of  constructive  cooperation  between 
the  races.  Both  Negroes  and  white  men  entered  into  the  discussion, 
and  the  feeling  of  cordial  helpfulness  was  the  most  remarkable  evi- 
dence of  a  new  fellowship  and  appreciation.  One  could  enlarge  at 
length,  not  only  on  the  importance  of  the  study  of  these  problems, 
but  also  on  what  is  more  significant — the  cooperative  study  which  the 
two  races  are  undertaking  together.  It  marks  a  new  era.  It  is  the 
return  of  the  old  confidence  of  the  first  era  of  slavery  without  the 
handicaps  and  evils  that  burdened  that  period.2 

5.  One  must  pass  quickly  to  another  indication  of  the  better 
relationship  between  the  races,  found  in  the  eager  attention  given  by 
Southern  white  college  men  to  this  whole  topic.  Some  have  felt 
that  this  is  by  far  the  most  hopeful  sign  of  the  times,  and  indeed  it 
is  most  significant.  Some  four  years  ago  the  leaders  of  the  Student 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in  the  South  felt  that  something 
must  be  done  to  bring  the  white  college  men  to  know  the  Negro 

2  For  full  proceedings  of  the  Congress,  write  J.  E.  McCulloch,  Nashville, 
Tenn.     Price,  $2. 


170  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

as  he  is  today,  and  through  that  knowledge  to  bring  to  the  college  a 
spirit  of  helpfulness.  It  was  felt  that  the  college  men  were  the  most 
open-minded  and  responsive  section  of  our  Southern  life,  and  would 
most  readily  accept  the  suggestion  of  a  thorough  study  of  the  whole 
problem.  A  volume3  was,  therefore,  prepared  with  this  group  of  men 
in  mind,  and  was  launched  through  the  voluntary  organization  of  the 
Student  Christian  Association.  The  fondest  hope  of  those  who  were 
promoting  the  scheme  did  not  expect  that  more  than  one  or  two  thou- 
sand college  men  could  be  secured  to  make  this  study  during  the 
first  year.  What  was  our  surprise  and  great  delight  to  find  that 
four  thousand  men  enrolled  and  followed  the  course  with  great  enthu- 
siasm. To  our  greater  surprise  nearly  six  thousand  students  enrolled 
the  second  year,  and  a  demand  came  for  more  detailed  information 
as  to  progress  in  the  race  itself.  A  second  volume  has,  therefore, 
been  prepared4  and  large  numbers  of  both  college  men  and  women 
have  been  enrolled  in  the  study  of  these  two  books  during  the  past 
year.  Many  of  the  churches  are  now  taking  up  the  study,  and  in  not 
a  few  schools  these  volumes  have  been  introduced  into  the  curriculum 
study  of  economics  and  sociology,  as  parallel  reading.  Under  the 
leadership  of  Dr.  James  H.  Dillard  of  the  Jeanes  and  Slater  Funds,  a 
commission  of  state  university  professors  has  also  been  organized, 
which  is  making  a  first  hand  investigation  of  the  whole  subject  of  the 
uplift  of  the  Negro.  The  members  of  this  commission  are  appointed 
officially  by  the  faculties  of  these  state  universities,  and  hence  their 
findings  will  have  much  weight  and  influence. 

6.  The  outcome  of  this  study  on  the  part  of  so  many  of  our 
choicest  young  men  and  women  in  the  South,  has  been  not  a  little  first 
hand  social  investigation,  and  even  more  of  social  service.  In  some 
university  centers  the  white  college  men  organized  the  Negro  men  of 
the  city  in  a  study  of  civil  problems,  such  as  health,  housing,  sanita- 
tion, the  relation  of  illiteracy  to  economic  efficiency,  the  relation  of 
the  whiskey  traffic  to  the  life  of  the  Negro,  and  other  kindred  themes. 
Seventy-five  Negro  men  were  members  of  this  study  club,  and  out  of 
it  has  grown  a  Negro  city  charities  organization.  In  dozens  of  other 
college  centers  Negro  boys'  clubs  have  been  organized,  night  schools 
established,  Sunday  schools  started,  lectures  on  civic  conditions  given, 

3  Negro  Life  in  the  South.    Association  Press,  New  York.     Price,  50  cents. 

4  Present  Forces  in  Negro  Progress.    Association  Press,  New  York.     Price, 
50  cents. 


RACE  RELATIONSHIP  IN  THE  SOUTH  171 

etc.  The  Southern  white  college  men  are  coming  to  realize  this  respon- 
sibility to  help  the  Negro — not  as  a  Negro,  but  as  a  man  who  has  had 
less  chance  than  themselves,  and  to  whom  they  should  pass  on  some 
of  their  larger  life. 

7.  This  leads  me  to  add  a  sentence  about  the  dedication  of 
Southern  life  to  the  problem.  It  was  said  earlier  that  the  Methodist 
Church  in  the  South  had  327  white  missionaries  at  work  for  the 
Negro  at  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War.  At  that  time  many  of  the 
slave  holders  prided  themselves  on  the  instruction  both  mental  and 
moral  which  they  could  personally  impart  to  their  slaves.  Davis, 
Lee,  and  Jackson,  were  all  conspicuous  examples  of  this.  But  after 
the  war  the  Southern  white  people  left  this  to  the  Northern  missionary 
and  the  Negro  himself.  Now  and  then  an  outstanding  man  like  Rev. 
John  Little  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  would  dedicate  his  life  to  the 
uplift  of  the  Negro,  but  their  number  was  small.  Now,  however, 
that  more  study  is  being  done  and  that  a  new  spirit  is  dawning,  a 
goodly  company  of  our  choicest  white  college  men  and  women  are 
offering  their  lives  to  the  uplift  of  the  Negro  race.  Perhaps  no  one  will 
ever  be  able  to  measure  the  tremendous  contribution  of  such  men  as 
Mr.  Jackson  Davis,  of  Virginia,  Mr.  J.  L.  Sibley  of  Alabama,  and  Dr. 
James  H.  Dillard  of  New  Orleans  and  others  who  are  giving  them- 
selves to  the  building  up  of  the  rural  Negro  schools.  They  are  men 
out  of  the  heart  of  the  old  South,  men  with  high  traditions  of  family, 
of  splendid  training,  and  their  work  marks  an  entirely  new  attitude 
toward  the  whole  race  problem  throughout  the  South.  During  the 
last  three  years  quite  a  number  of  undergraduate  students  in  our  white 
colleges  have  deliberately  dedicated  their  lives  to  the  uplift  of  the 
Negro  race.  Hundreds  of  these  young  men  are  definitely  planning 
to  have  their  part  of  this  race  uplift,  as  laymen  serving  on  boards  of 
trustees  for  schools,  members  of  committees  on  social  service,  etc. 
This  is  by  all  means  the  most  hopeful  sign  of  a  better  day  of  race 
understanding  in  the  South. 

8.  One  of  the  most  significant  outreaches  of  the  new  interest  on 
the  part  of  Southern  white  men  is  to  be  seen  in  the  growth  of  race 
pride  and  race  consciousness  on  the  part  of  the  Negro.  No  race  can 
ever  expect  to  elicit  respect  and  confidence  from  others  so  long  as  it 
does  not  believe  hi  itself.  If  the  Negro  in  the  South  wants  to  win  the 
favor  and  the  sympathetic  cooperation  of  the  white  man  there  is  no 
surer  way  of  doing  this  than  through  the  development  of  his  own  race 


172  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

consciousness  and  race  pride.  The  white  people  of  the  South  are  doing 
much  to  develop  this  spirit.  Through  a  better  type  of  school  which 
makes  the  Negro  more  efficient  and  self  respecting;  through  farm 
demonstration  work  which  makes  the  farmer  economically  inde- 
pendent; through  working  with  the  Negro  rather  than  for  the  Negro 
in  social  uplift;  and  in  many  other  ways  the  Negro  is  being  helped 
into  self-respecting  citizenship.  When  the  Negro  has  become  economi- 
cally efficient,  intellectually  more  advanced,  racially  self  conscious, 
there  will  be  far  less  friction,  for  he  will  then  feel  as  the  white  man 
feels  that  racial  integrity  and  social  separation  are  best  for  both 
races.  Indeed  most  of  the  best  trained  Southern  Negroes  I  know  at 
present  feel  as  the  white  man  does  about  this  matter — that  each  race 
can  make  its  largest  contribution  to  humanity  if  it  develops  its  own 
race  life  and  race  consciousness.  It  has  been  the  fear  on  the  part  of 
the  Southern  white  man  that  development  of  the  Negro  intellectually 
and  economically  would  mean  race  amalgamation.  But  as  this  race 
consciousness  grows  stronger  and  stronger  in  the  Negro  race  this 
feeling  will  be  allayed  and  the  two  races  will  dwell  side  by  side  in  a 
spirit  of  increasing  brotherhood.  As  a  Southern  man,  trained  in  a 
Southern  University,  living  daily  in  the  midst  of  these  vexatious 
problems,  and  working  every  day  to  bring  about  better  relations,  I 
feel  decidedly  that  the  outlook  is  brighter  than  it  has  ever  been  in 
our  history. 

The  careful  scientific  study  being  made  by  college  students  and 
professors,  the  new  spirit  of  social  service  cooperation,  the  better  type 
of  farming  methods  passed  on  by  the  white  men  to  their  colored 
neighbors,  the  more  efficient  Negro  schools  carried  on  under  the 
direction  of  our  choicest  white  educators,  the  growth  of  race  pride 
on  the  part  of  the  Negro  himself,  and  the  growing  respect  for  person- 
ality as  such — all  these  are  signs  of  the  dawning  of  a  new  and  brighter 
day  both  for  white  and  black  in  the  South. 


BY  B.  C.  CALDWELL, 
The  John  F.  Slater  Fund,  New  York. 

These  organizations  have  the  same  purpose,  the  training  of 
Negro  youth  in  the  Southern  States;  they  have  the  same  director, 
the  president  of  the  Jeanes  Fund  being  also  director  of  the  Slater 
fund;  and  they  have  the  same  offices  in  New  Orleans  and  New  York. 
They  have  separate  though  overlapping  boards  of  trustees. 

The  Jeanes  work  is  confined  to  rural  schools,  and  is  almost 
entirely  industrial.  Most  of  the  Slater  revenue  is  spent  for  sec- 
ondary and  higher  education,  mainly  academic,  partly  vocational 
and  industrial. 

The  Jeanes  work,  now  in  its  fifth  year,  entered  a  new  field. 
From  the  start  it  aimed  to  reach  the  school  in  the  background — 
the  remote  country  school  for  Negro  children,  out  of  sight  in  the 
backwoods,  down  the  bayou,  on  the  sea  marsh,  up  in  the  piney  woods, 
or  out  in  the  gullied  wilderness  of  abandoned  plantations.  Nearly 
all  these  schools  are  held  in  shabby  buildings,  mostly  old  churches, 
some  in  cabins  and  country  stores,  a  few  in  deserted  dwellings.  I 
have  seen  one  in  Alabama  held  in  a  saw-mill  shed,  one  in  Missis- 
sippi in  a  barn,  one  hi  Georgia  in  a  peach-packing  shed,  one  hi  Ar- 
kansas in  a  drj^-kiln,  one  in  Louisiana  in  a  stranded  flatboat,  and 
one  in  Texas  in  a  sheepfold.  For  the  most  part  these  schools  are 
taught  by  untrained  teachers  without  any  sort  of  supervision.  The 
equipment  is  generally  meagre,  the  pay  small  and  the  term  short. 
The  Jeanes  Fund  undertook  to  send  trained  industrial  teachers  into 
this  field  to  help  the  people  to  improve  the  physical  conditions  and 
the  teachers  to  better  the  instruction  given  the  children. 

The  teachers  employed  in  this  work  are  trained  in  some  kind 
of  industrial  work,  domestic  or  vocational.  Most  of  them  teach 
sewing.  Next  in  number  are  those  who  teach  cooking.  Some  are 
graduate  nurses,  some  laundresses,  some  basket-makers,  some  farm- 
ers and  dairymen;  and  truck-gardening,  blacksmithing,  carpentry, 
mattress-making,  baking,  and  shoemaking  are  among  the  industries 
taught  by  these  teachers. 

173 


174  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

For  the  current  year  there  are  120  Jeanes  teachers  at  work, 
in  120  counties  of  11  Southern  States,  Maryland  to  Texas.  Each 
teacher  visits  a  number  of  the  country  schools,  gives  a  lesson  in 
some  industry,  plans  with  the  regular  teacher  to  give  succeeding 
lessons  in  her  absence,  organizes  parents'  clubs  and  starts  a  move- 
merit  for  better  school  equipment  or  longer  term,  counsels  the  local 
teacher  about  her  daily  teaching,  and  stirs  the  community  to  united 
effort  to  better  the  school.  Although  paid  by  the  Jeanes  Fund, 
all  these  teachers  are  selected  by  the  county  superintendent,  do 
their  work  under  his  direction  and  are  members  of  his  teaching 
corps  just  like  the  other  teachers  of  the  county. 

In  many  counties  this  spring  the  industrial  teacher  gathered 
specimens  of  sewing,  baking,  pastry,  basketry,  chair-caning,  mat- 
tresses, shuck  mats,  garden  truck,  carpentry  and  furniture  from  all 
the  schools  of  the  county  and  put  them  on  exhibition  at  the  court- 
house, at  the  superintendent's  office  or  other  central  point.  These 
exhibits  were  visited  by  numbers  of  school  patrons,  teachers,  children 
and  the  white  school  officials  and  citizens.  In  some  cases  prizes 
were  offered  by  banks,  merchants,  railroads  and  planters  for  the 
best  work  in  the  various  crafts. 

The  industrial  teachers  are  graduates  of  Hampton,  Pratt  Insti- 
tute, Tuskegee,  Petersburg,  Cheney,  Fisk,  Atlanta  and  kindred  insti- 
tutions. All  of  them  are  Negroes.  Their  salaries  range  from  $40 
to  $75  a  month,  and  their  terms  from  six  to  twelve  months  a  year. 

At  the  outset  the  entire  expense  of  this  industrial  work  was 
borne  by  the  Jeanes  Fund.  After  a  year  or  two  the  county  school 
boards  began  contributing,  sometimes  paying  the  traveling  expenses 
of  the  industrial  teacher,  sometimes  buying  sewing  machines,  cook 
stoves  and  washtubs  for  the  schools,  sometimes  renting  plots  of 
ground  for  farm  and  garden  work.  Last  year  one  or  two  counties 
took  over  the  entire  expense  of|  the  work,  and  fifteen  or  twenty 
undertook  to  pay  half  or  part  of  the  teacher's  salary. 

The  Slater  Fund  from  the  beginning  has  devoted  most  of  its 
means  to  the  higher  education  of  Negro  youth,  mainly  with  the 
purpose  of  training  teachers  for  the  primary  schools.  But  almost 
from  the  start  it  has  contributed  to  public  school  work  in  town  and 
city  with  the  same  general  end  in  view,  devoting  its  entire  contribu- 
tion to  these  public  schools  to  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  industrial  and  vocational  training.  At  this  time  more  than  three- 


WORK  OF  THE  JEANES  AND  SLATER  FUNDS  175 

fourths  of  the  Slater  money  is  still  applied  to  higher  school  work, 
mainly  urban  and  academic.  But  for  the  past  year  or  two  the 
Slater  trust  has  been  experimenting  with  some  new  and  promising 
work  in  the  country. 

Several  years  ago  a  parish  superintendent  in  Louisiana  applied 
to  the  Slater  Fund  for  assistance  in  establishing  a  country  high 
school  for  Negro  children.  Almost  at  the  same  time  a  county  super- 
intendent in  Virginia,  another  hi  Arkansas,  and  one  in  Mississippi 
proposed  substantially  the  same  thing.  In  each  case  the  main  pur- 
pose was  to  train  teachers  for  the  country  schools  of  the  county. 
Trained  teachers  cannot  be  had  for  the  pitiful  salary  paid  to  country 
Negro  teachers.  And  each  of  these  superintendents  hoped  to  get  a 
regular  and  fairly  good  supply  of  teachers  definitely  trained  to  do 
the  work  needed  in  his  county. 

The  parish  of  Tangipahoa,  La.,  was  the  first  to  undertake  the 
establishment  of  such  a  school.  Superintendent  Lewis  named  it  the 
Parish  Training  School  for  Colored  Children,  and  located  it  at  Kent- 
wood,  a  village  in  the  piney  woods  part  of  the  parish.  The  parish 
school  board  supplied  the  teachers  and  equipment,  the  Brooks-Scanlon 
Lumber  Company  furnished  material  for  the  house  and  ten  acres 
of  land,  and  the  Slater  Fund  gives  $500  a  year  for  industrial  teach- 
ing. The  school  is  now  in  its  second  year  and  promises  to  render 
valuable  service  to  the  parish. 

Three  similar  schools  have  been  established  since;  one  in  New- 
ton County,  Miss.,  to  which  the  county,  the  town  of  Newton  and 
an  organization  of  colored  people  contributed;  another  in  Hempstead 
County,  Ark.,  where  a  town  school  supported  by  state  and  local 
funds  was  converted  into  a  central  training  school  (not  county, 
because  there  is  no  county  school  body  in  Arkansas),  and  the  funds 
were  raised  by  the  town  of  Hope,  the  local  cotton  men,  and  the 
white  and  colored  citizens  individually;  and  a  third  in  Sabine  Parish, 
Louisiana,  where  a  large  community  school,  seven  miles  in  the 
country,  was  made  the  parish  training  school,  supported  by  the 
Sabine  school  board,  with  contributions  of  the  timber  syndicates 
owning  most  of  the  land  around  the  school.  In  each  of  these  cases 
the  Slater  Fund  contributes  $500  a  year  for  three  years,  the  con- 
tributions to  be  continued  if  the  results  justify  the  expenditure. 
There  are  no  precedents  to  follow  in  this  kind  of  work.  Each  of  the 
counties  is  working  out  its  problem  in  the  way  that  seems  best  to 


176  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

the  superintendent  and  school  board.  They  vary  greatly  in  local 
conditions,  and  each  will  have  to  feel  its  way  toward  the  end  in 
view.  But  all  of  them  are  making  the  training  school  distinctly 
agricultural  and  industrial  all  the  way  through  the  course  offered, 
and  some  of  them  are  already  giving  class  work  and  handcraft  of 
real  worth. 

Every  county  in  the  South  has  felt  the  need  of  fairly  well 
trained  teachers  for  its  Negro  country  schools.  But  so  far  as  I 
know  this  is  the  first  time  that  superintendents  have  actually  gone 
to  work  to  get  such  teachers  by  training  them  at  home.  It  will 
take  several  years  to  work  out  the  plan;  and  local  school  authorities 
will  give  their  individual  stamp  to  it  in  each  county.  But  thus 
far  it  looks  promising;  and  the  end  in  view  goes  to  the  very  heart 
of  the  whole  matter  of  Negro  education. 

I  need  not  speak  of  the  well  known  schools,  Hampton,  Tuskegee, 
Atlanta,  Fisk,  Spellman  and  the  rest,  to  which  the  greater  part  of 
the  Slater  income  is  devoted.  But  in  two  of  these  and  in  several 
colored  state  normal  schools  the  Slater  Fund  contributes  to  the 
maintenance  of  summer  normal  schools  for  teachers,  offering  good 
academic  and  industrial  training  for  country  teachers. 

Both  the  Jeanes  Fund  and  the  Slater  Fund  do  a  little  in  the 
way  of  helping  to  build  school  houses.  In  several  counties  of  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  and  Alabama  the  Jeanes  Fund  is  assisting  in  the 
building  of  one  good  Negro  school  house  as  a  sample.  In  each  case 
the  community  raises  a  fund  for  the  house,  the  county  school  board 
gives  an  equal  or  larger  sum,  and  the  Jeanes  Fund  gives  about  one- 
third  of  the  cost  of  the  house.  The  Slater  Fund  contributes  to  the 
same  kind  of  work  in  a  limited  way,  and  gives  more  largely  to  the 
equipment  of  town  and  city  schools  for  vocational  work.  The  mag- 
nificent new  building  for  Negro  children  above  the  fifth  grade  erected 
by  the  city  of  Charleston  was  furnished  with  superior  equipment 
for  all  kinds  of  hand  and  power  work  by  the  Slater  Fund. 


NEGRO  ILLITERACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

BY  J.    P.    LlCHTENBERGER,    PH.D., 
Assistant  Professor  of  Sociology,  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  study  of  illiteracy  among  the  Negroes  of  the  United  States 
constitutes  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  the  story  of  their 
achievements  in  fifty  years  of  freedom.  In  most  of  the  slave  states, 
before  1861,  it  was  a  criminal  offense  to  teach  any  Negro,  slave  or 
free,  to  read  or  write;  so  that  illiteracy  in  the  South  among  the  Negroes 
at  the  time  of  the  emancipation  was  nearly  100  per  cent. 

While  conditions  were  somewhat  different  in  the  North,  and  edu- 
cational opportunities  were  not  wholly  denied,  the  number  of  Negroes 
who  could  avail  themselves  of  these  opportunities  was  so  small  as  to 
affect  only  slightly  the  rate  of  illiteracy  for  the  country  as  a  whole. 
Conservative  estimates  place  the  illiteracy  of  the  race  at  between  95 
and  97  per  cent  at  the  beginning  of  freedom.  It  is  clear  that  this 
condition  in  no  way  indicates  either  the  capacity  or  inclination  of  the 
race  for  acquiring  education.  It  indicates  merely  the  status  of  a 
people  reared  in  barbarism,  transplanted  into  the  midst  of  civiliza- 
tion, but  bearing  none  of  its  burdens  and  responsibilities,  and  partici- 
pating in  no  way  in  its  social  or  cultural  activities.  The  position  of  the 
Negro  in  the  United  States  as  a  ward  of  civilization  makes  it  practi- 
cally impossible  to  compare  either  his  situation  or  his  achievements 
with  that  of  any  other  race  or  people  in  modern  times.  Whatever 
progress  he  has  made  since  the  beginning  of  political  freedom  cannot 
be  attributed  solely  to  his  own  desire  for  knowledge,  nor  to  his  inher- 
ent capacity,  but  must  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  his  imitative  ability 
and  the  opportunities  afforded  for  his  advancement  by  the  white 
population  in  the  midst  of  which  he  has  lived. 

Under  the  regime  of  slavery  there  was  not  only  this  general  con- 
dition, due  to  the  attitude  of  the  masters  enforced  by  legal  enactments, 
but  there  was  likewise  the  absence  on  the  part  of  the  Negro  of  any 
motive  for  the  acquiring  of  even  the  smallest  elements  of  education. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  period  of  freedom,  the  presence  of  this  un- 
tutored race  in  the  midst  of  American  civilization  formed  an  irresist- 

177 


178 


THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 


ible  appeal  to  philanthropic  spirited  citizens  for  the  education  of 
this  new  class  of  freedmen.  Had  the  Negro  been  left  to  himself,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  predict  what  his  present  status  would  be.  Not- 
withstanding the  mistakes  in  the  earlier  period  of  the  reconstruction 
in  educational  methods  provided  by  the  white  population,  and  not- 
withstanding the  inadequacy,  not  to  say  neglect,  of  Negro  educational 
facilities  up  to  the  present  time,  the  Negro  has  benefited  greatly  by 
such  opportunities  as  are  afforded  by  American  educational  institu- 
tions in  general. 

In  order  to  understand  'the  present  problem  of  illiteracy  of  the 
Negro  race,  a  survey  of  the  statistics  collected  by  the  census  bureau 
over  a  period  of  years  needs  careful  study  and  analysis.  In  the  follow- 
ing table,  several  decades  are  presented  for  the  purpose  of  a  compara- 

TABLE  I 


Class  of  population 

Percentage  of  Illiterates  In  the  population 
10  years  of  age  and  over 

1010 

1900 

1890 

1880 

Tolal  

7.7 
5.0 
3.0 
3.7 
1.1 
12.7 
30.4 
45.3 
15.8 
9.2 
39.9 

10.7 
6.2 
4.6 
5.7 
1.6 
12.9 
44.5 
56.2] 
29.  o[ 
18.  2j 

13.3 

7.7 
6.2 
7.5 
2.2 
13.1 
57.  ll 

45.  2  J 

17.0 
9.4 
8.7 

White  

Native  

Native  parentage  

Foreign  or  mixed  parentage  

Foreign  born  

12.0 
70.0 

Negro  

Indian  

Chinese  

Japanese  

All  others  

Abstract  of  the  Thirteenth  Census,  1910,  p.  239. 

tive  study.  This  table  shows  not  only  the  amount  and  distribution 
of  illiteracy  among  the  various  portions  of  the  population,  but  as  well 
the  decline  in  illiteracy  which  has  taken  place  in  the  period  from  1880 
to  1910,  in  the  various  elements  of  the  populations. 

Taking  up  these  two  principal  aspects  of  the  subjects  in  the  order 
indicated,  we  find  that  illiteracy  in  the  Negro  group  is  6  times  that 
of  the  white  group;  or,  if  we  eliminate  the  persons  of  foreign  birth  or 
extraction,  10  times  as  great;  there  being  3  illiterate  persons  in  every 
ICO  native  white  persons  and  30.4  illiterate  persons  in  every  100 


NEGRO  ILLITERACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


179 


Negroes.  This  comparison  is  wholly  misleading  and  unfair  in  view  of 
the  distribution  of  the  races. 

Two  main  phases  of  this  distribution  must  be  considered.  First, 
the  geographic  situation  and  second,  the  urban  and  rural  conditions. 

The  following  table  is  presented  in  order  to  show  the  relative 
statistics  of  illiteracy  of  persons  10  years  of  age  and  over  in  the  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  country  for  1910. 

Here  we  discover  that  Negro  illiteracy  in  the  North  is  not  greatly 
in  excess  of  white  illiteracy  in  the  South,  the  figures  being  re- 
spectively 10.5  per  cent  and  7.7  per  cent,  while  in  two  of  the  southern 

TABLE  II 


All  classes 

Native  white 
of  native 
parentage 

Negro 

United  States  

7.7 

3.7 

30.4 

New  England  

5  3 

0  7 

7  8 

Middle  Atlantic  .... 

5  7 

1.2 

7.9 

East  North  Central  

3.4 

1.7 

11.0 

West  North  Central.              .    . 

2  9 

1.7 

14  9 

South  Atlantic  

16.0 

8.0 

32.5 

East  South  Central  

17.4 

9.6 

34.8 

West  South  Central 

13.2 

5.6 

33.1 

Mountain  

6.9 

3.6 

8.0 

Pacific  

3  0 

0.4 

6.3 

North  

4.3 

1.4 

10.5 

South  .    . 

15.6 

7.7 

33.3 

West  

4  4 

1.7 

7.0 

Abstract  of  the  Thirteenth  Census,  1910,  p.  243. 

divisions  it  is  8.0  per  cent  and  9.6  per  cent  for  the  white,  actually 
approximating  that  of  the  Negroes  in  New  England.  The  higher 
rate  of  illiteracy  in  the  South  for  both  the  white  and  colored  portions 
of  the  population  is  attributed  to  the  lack  of  facilities  for  securing  an 
education.  This  at  least  is  given  as  an  explanation  for  the  disparity 
in  the  rate  of  illiteracy  in  the  white  population  in  the  two  sections  of 
the  country.  To  those  who  have  studied  the  school  conditions,  par- 
ticularly in  the  South,  it  seems  clear  that  inadequate  as  are  facilities 
for  white  children,  those  afforded  the  colored  children  are  much  more 
inadequate.  If  facilities  in  the  South  were  equal  for  black  and  white 
children,  and  as  ample  as  in  the  North,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the 


180  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

rate  of  illiteracy  among  Negroes  in  the  South  would  much  more  nearly 
approximate  that  in  the  North.  This  of  course  would  be  true  of  both 
groups. 

In  further  explanation  of  the  disparity  in  the  rate  of  illiteracy 
for  the  Negro  race  as  a  whole  as  compared  with  that  of  the  white,  it 
should  be  remembered  that  whereas  60.6  per  cent  of  the  white  popu- 
lation in  1910  was  located  in  the  North  and  32  per  cent  in  the  South, 
but  10.5  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  was  found  in  the  North  and  89.5 
per  cent  in  the  South.  Thus  89.5  per  cent  of  the  colored  population 
in  the  United  States  shares  the  inadequate  school  facilities  of  the  32 
per  cent  of  the  white  population.  Since  the  illiteracy  among  the 
Negroes  in  the  North  is  only  10.5  per  cent  while  that  of  the  illiteracy 
of  the  white  population  of  the  South  is  7.7  per  cent,  it  is  clear  that  if 
there  was  an  equal  distribution  either  of  population  or  of  educational 
opportunities,  much  of  the  difference  in  the  rates  between  the  races 
would  disappear.  In  other  words,  viewing  the  rate  as  a  whole,  it  is 
impossible  to  show  that  the  difference  is  fundamentally  racial. 

A  further  comparison  must  be  made  in  regard  to  the  distribution 
of  illiterates  between  city  and  country.  The  following  table  gives 
the  distribution  of  illiteracy  of  persons  10  years  of  age  and  over  in 
1910  in  the  urban  and  rural  population. 

Of  the  total  native  white  population  of  native  parentage  10  years 
of  age  and  over  in  continental  United  States  in  1910,  37.7  per  cent 
resided  in  cities  of  2,500  or  more  inhabitants,  and  62.3  per  cent  in 
rural  districts  and  towns  of  less  than  2,500  inhabitants.  The  illiteracy 
among  the  urban  native  born  whites  of  native  parentage  was  0.9  per 
cent.  In  the  rural  districts  it  was  5.4  per  cent.  This  difference  in 
the  main  is  conceded  to  be  due,  not  to  differences  in  the  population 
under  rural  and  urban  conditions,  but  to  the  superior  facilities  for 
education  afforded  in  urban  communites.  For  example,  the  small 
amount  of  illiteracy  among  persons  of  native  birth  but  of  foreign  or 
mixed  parentage  amounting  to  only  1.1  per  cent  is  explained  not 
upon  the  basis  of  race  differences  between  the  persons  of  native  and 
foreign  ancestry,  but  is  attributed  largely  to  the  fact  that  persons  of 
foreign  born  or  mixed  parentage  are  for  the  most  part  city  dwellers, 
and  they  have  for  that  reason  the  superior  advantage  afforded  for 
education  in  the  cities. 

Turning  now  to  the  Negro  population,  we  discover  that  of  those 
10  years  of  age  and  over,  17.7  per  cent  are  urban  and  82.3  per  cent 


NEGRO  ILLITERACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


181 


are  rural.  Comparing  the  percentages  of  urban  and  rural  conditions, 
we  discover  that  17.7  per  cent  of  Negroes  share,  however  unfairly 
because  of  racial  discriminations,  the  advantages  for  education  of  the 

TABLE  III 


Division  and  class  of  community 


All  classes 


United  States 

Urban 5.1 

Rural 10.1 

New  England 

Urban 5.6 

Rural 3.8 

Middle  Atlantic 

Urban 5.8 

Rural 5.2 

East  North  Central 

Urban 3.5 

Rural 3.2 

West  North  Central 

Urban 2.7 

Rural 3.0 

South  Atlantic 

Urban 8.5 

Rural 18.9 

East  South  Central 

Urban 9.6 

Rural 19.4 

West  South  Central 

Urban 

Rural 15.2 

Mountain 

Urban 3.1 

Rural 9.1 

Pacific 

Urban 2.0 

Rural..  4.3 


Native  white 
of  native 
parentage 


0.9 

5.4 

0.5 

1.2 

0.6 
1.9 

0.9 
2.2 

0.8 
2.1 

2.2 
9.8 

2.4 
11.1 

1.4 

6.8 

0.9 
5.1 

0.3 
0.6 


Negroes 


17.6 
36.1 

7.1 
16.9 

7.0 
12.2 

9.7 
15.8 

12.3 
21.0 


36.1 

23.8 
37.8 

20.3 
37.2 


10.6 

5.3 

11.4 


Abstract  of  the  Thirteenth  Census,  1910,  p.  249. 

37.7  per  cent  of  the  white  population,  and  82.3  per  cent  of  the  Negroes 
share  the  rural  educational  opportunities  of  the  62.3  per  cent  of  the 
whites.  Much  of  the  illiteracy  among  Negroes  in  the  United  States 
as  a  whole  is  therefore  to  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  they  are  to 


182  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

such  a  large  degree  a  rural  people,  handicapped  by  the  inadequacy 
of  rural  educational  conditions.  It  is  safe  to  assume,  therefore,  that 
if  the  distribution  of  Negroes  in  regard  to  urban  and  rural  conditions 
approximated  that  of  the  whole  population,  or  of  the  native  whites  of 
native  parentage,  that  the  difference  in  illiteracy  would  be  considerably 
diminished.  This  generalization  finds  further  proof  in  comparisons 
between  various  sections  of  the  country,  North  and  South,  rural  and 
urban.  In  New  England,  where  the  colored  population  is  83.2  per 
cent  urban  and  16.8  per  cent  rural,  the  rate  of  Negro  illiteracy  is  7.1 
per  cent  in  cities,  or  somewhat  less  than  the  illiteracy  of  the  entire 
population,  while  16.9  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  in  the  rural  districts 
is  illiterate.  In  the  east  south  central  divison  of  states,  where  the 
native  white  population  of  native  parentage  is  4.2  per  cent  urban  and 
95.8  per  cent  rural,  the  rate  of  illiteracy  among  the  whites  is  2.4  per 
cent  for  the  urban,  and  11.1  per  cent  for  the  rural  population.  While 
Negro  illiteracy  is  far  in  excess  of  that  of  the  white  population  in 
every  portion  of  the  United  States,  nevertheless  it  is  less  in  urban 
New  England  and  the  middle  Atlantic  divisions  than  that  of  the  rural 
white  population  in  the  south  Atlantic  and  east  south  central  divisions. 

These  facts  make  it  clear  that  however  great  the  disparity  may 
be  in  sections  where  conditions  are  similar,  that,  taking  the  country  as 
a  whole,  the  Negro  race  being  so  largely  a  southern  rural  people,  the 
comparison  between  the  actual  rates  of  illiteracy  for  the  white  and 
colored  populations  does  not  reveal  the  true  state  of  affairs  in  regard 
to  the  Negro's  progress.  Notwithstanding  the  results  revealed  by 
sectional  geographic  comparisons,  it  still  remains  true  that  Negro 
illiteracy  is  higher  than  that  of  the  white  population  in  each  section 
as  well  as  for  the  country  as  a  whole,  just  as  it  is  higher  for  both  whites 
and  Negroes  in  rural  districts,  as  compared  with  urban  districts,  and 
higher  in  the  South  than  in  the  North. 

The  purpose  in  presenting  this  comparison  has  been  not  to  mini- 
mize the  importance  or  amount  of  Negro  illiteracy,  but  merely  to 
show  that  when  due  allowance  has  been  made  for  differences  of  dis- 
tribution, much  of  the  supposed  evidence  of  race  difference  disappears. 
It  seems  clear  that  if  equal  advantages  were  afforded  in  school  equip- 
ment hi  urban  and  rural  districts,  and  if  the  Negroes  were  distributed 
in  an  equal  ratio  with  the  native  whites  of  native  parentage  in  both 
North  and  South,  the  total  rate  of  illiteracy  in  general,  now  ten  times 
as  great  among  the  Negroes  as  among  the  whites,  would  fall  to  probably 
three  or  four  times  the  amount  instead  of  ten. 


NEGRO  ILLITERACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


183 


Turning  now  to  the  decline  in  Negro  illiteracy,  it  will  be  observed 
from  the  figures  in  table  I  that  while  the  illiteracy  for  the  total 
population  declined  during  the  period  from  1880  to  1910  from  17.0 
per  cent  to  7.7  per  cent,  and  that  of  the  native  whites  of  native  parent- 
age from  8.7  to  3  per  cent,  that  of  Negro  has  been  reduced  from 
approximately  70  per  cent  to  30.4  per  cent.  The  decline  of  illiteracy 
among  the  Negroes  shows  the  same  tendency  toward  diminution  as 
among  all  the  other  groups  barring  the  foreign  born,  except  that  it 
has  been  more  rapid.  In  view  of  the  facts  of  distribution  presented 
in  the  previous  paragraphs,  this  decrease  has  been  little  less  than 
phenomenal.  At  the  rate  of  decrease  for  the  period  1880-1910,  it 
will  require  only  a  few  decades  more  to  bring  the  rate  down  to  the 
level  of  that  for  the  country  as  a  whole  at  the  present  time  and  below 
that  of  the  foreign  born. 

The  real  significance  of  the  decline  among  the  Negroes  is  best 
observed  by  a  comparison  of  age  groups. 

TABLE  IV. — PERCENTAGE  OF  ILLITERACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  1910 


Age  period 

All  classes 

Native  white 
of  native 
parentage 

Negroes 

10  years  and  over  

7.7 

3  0 

30  4 

10  years  to  14  years  

4.1 

1  7 

18  9 

15  years  to  19  years  

4.9 

1  9 

20  3 

20  years  to  24  years  

&.9 

2  3 

23  9 

25  years  to  34  years  

7.3 

2  4 

24  6 

35  years  to  44  years  .  .    .  .       

8  1 

3  0 

32  3 

45  years  to  64  years  

10.7 

5  0 

52.7 

65  years  and  over  

14  5 

7  3 

74.5 

Abstract  of  the  Thirteenth  Census,  1910,  p.  240. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  here  that  illiteracy  among  Negro  children 
10  to  14  years  of  age  is  but  18.9  per  cent  and  that  the  rate  does  not 
rise  to  that  of  the  group  as  a  whole  until  the  age  of  35  years  or  over, 
and  that  beyond  the  age  of  45  it  is  from  50  to  75  per  cent.  The  present 
generation  of  Negro  children  is  therefore  enjoying  greatly  improved 
conditions  and  is  taking  advantage  of  them.  Without  further  im- 
provement, the  next  generation  will  show  a  reduction  of  illiteracy  to 
approximately  20  per  cent. 

The  present  status  of  Negro  illiteracy  in  the  group  10  to  14  years 
of  age,  however,  when  compared  with  the  same  age  group  among  the 


184  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

whites  is  again  unfair,  in  view  of  the  facts  revealed  by  the  figures  of 
school  attendance,  so  far  as  these  figures  may  be  taken  as  an  index 
of  school  facilities  afforded.  The  percentage  of  school  attendance  of 
native  white  children  of  native  parentage  in  the  United  States  between 
the  ages  of  6  to  20  is  65.9  per  cent  in  urban  communities,  and  67.3 
per  cent  in  rural  districts.  The  same  respective  figures  for  colored 
children  are  51.7  per  cent  and  46.1  per  cent.  In  the  south  Atlantic 
division,  which  is  typical  of  the  South  in  general,  the  corresponding 
figures  for  white  are:  urban,  59.1  per  cent;  rural,  63.7  per  cent;  for 
colored,  urban  48.9,  rural  46.6.  If,  therefore,  the  colored  children 
had  an  equal  opportunity  with  the  white  the  difference  in  illiteracy 
would  be  still  further  reduced. 

At  the  present  time  and  with  conditions  as  they  are,  the  illiteracy 
of  Negro  children  between  10  and  14  years  of  age  is  little  more  than 
that  for  the  country  as  a  whole  for  that  portion  of  the  population 
above  65  years  of  age,  and  only  a  little  more  than  double  that  of  the 
native  whites  of  native  parentage  above  that  age.  If  statistics  were 
available,  they  would  doubtless  show  Negro  illiteracy  among  the 
early  age  groups  in  the  urban  North  to  be  somewhat  below  that  of 
the  older  age  groups  in  the  native  white  population  in  the  rural 
South. 

Summarizing,  a  few  generalizations  may  be  made : 

1.  Negro  illiteracy  throughout  the  United  States  and  in  every 
geographic  division  is  greatly  hi  excess  of  that  in  the  white  portion  of 
population. 

2.  When  due  allowance  is  made  for  differences  of  distribution  in 
which  the  vast  majority  of  Negroes  share  the  inadequate  facilities  for 
education  of  the  minority  of  the  whites,  the  disparity  in  the  amount 
of  illiteracy  is  partially  explained  without  reference  to  racial  qualities 
or  ability. 

3.  The  rapid  reduction  of  Negro  illiteracy  from  something  above 
95  per  cent  to  30.4  per  cent  in  fifty  years  of  freedom,  and  constituting 
the  largest  element  in  the  diminution  of  illiteracy  for  the  United 
States  as  a  whole,  is  a  phenomenal  race  achievement. 

4.  Continuous  and  rapid  reduction  in  Negro  illiteracy  is  likely 
to  continue  through  improvement  of  facilities.    To  the  extent  to  which 
an  equality  of  opportunity  North  and  South,  urban  and  rural,  is 
secured  will  the  rate  of  Negro  illiteracy  decline  until  it  tends  to 
approximate  that  of  the  white. 


NEGRO  ILLITERACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  185 

5.  If  achievement  is  measured,  not  in  terms  of  actual  accomplish- 
ment, but  in  the  amount  of  progress  made  from  the  point  of  departure, 
then  there  may  be  little  ground  for  complaint  or  discouragement,  but 
rather  a  just  feeling  of  satisfaction  and  of  optimism  in  the  degree  of 
attainment  toward  ability  to  read  and  write  accomplished  by  the 
Negro  race  in  the  United  States  in  its  fifty  years  of  freedom. 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 
OF  PHILADELPHIA1 

BY  HOWARD  W.  ODUM, 
University  of  Georgia,  Athens,  Ga. 

That  the  problem  of  educating  Negro  children  is  not  limited  in 
its  application  to  any  community,  or  to  the  North  or  South,  is  now  a 
well  recognized  fact.  That  it  is  of  special  importance  in  the  study 
of  American  education;  is  closely  related  to  many  problems  of  public 
policy;  and  bears  directly  upon  the  theory  and  practice  of  efficiency 
in  national  life,  as  well  as  upon  race  improvement,  is  not  always  so 
well  recognized. 

At  the  invitation  and  with  the  cooperation  of  Dr.  Martin  G. 
Brurribaugh,  superintendent  of  the  city  public  schools,  this  study  was 
undertaken  by  the  Philadelphia  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  with  a 
view  to  assisting  in  the  solution  of  a  difficult  problem  of  school  admin- 
istration and  efficiency.  The  inquiry  was  pursued  on  the  assumption 
that  little  could  be  done  unless  the  subject  was  approached  strictly 
from  the  objective  viewpoint  and  prosecuted  with  as  much  thorough- 
ness as  possible.  At  the  same  time  it  is  a  practical  study  and  the 
time  and  facilities  for  making  exhaustive  experiments  and  anthropo- 
metric  measurement  were  very  limited.  It  is  urged,  therefore,  that  all 
facts  and  conclusions  herein  presented  shall  be  interpreted;  accord- 
ingly, and  that  all  statements  concerning  Negro  children  be  inter- 
preted as  applying  to  Negro  children  as  they  are  today,  the  product 
of  inheritance  and  environment. 

This  paper  is,  further,  a  summary  of  a  large  body  of  information. 
In  order  to  employ  summaries  with  exactness  it  is  necessary  to  inter- 
pret totals,  averages,  and  central  tendencies  in  their  relation  to  the 
frequencies  upon  which  they  are  based.  It  is  possible,  for  instance, 
to  have  two  groups  of  a  thousand  children  each,  conforming  alike  to 
average  measurements,  and  at  the  same  time  differing  so  radically 
in  their  conformation  to  normal  distribution  as  to  be  almost  wholly 

'Summary  from  a  special  study  of  Negro  children  in  the  public  schools 
of  Philadelphia  made  for  the  Philadelphia  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research. 

186 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  187 

unlike.  Such  a  series  of  variations  not  infrequently  occurs  in  exactly 
those  traits,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  essential  to  an  understanding  of 
the  groups.  In  attempting  to  form  conclusions  from  a  general  sum- 
mary, therefore,  it  is  most  important  to  keep  these  facts  in  mind. 
And  while  it  is  possible  to  summarize  to  a  large  extent  the  principal 
facts  brought  out  in  this  study  of  Negro  children  in  the  schools,  it 
is  also  easy  to  neglect  fundamental  minor  facts  that  may  be  shown 
only  in  the  detailed  units  of  scope  and  method.  With  these  quali- 
fications the  following  summary  ought  to  be  of  value. 

The  scope  of  this  inquiry  included  all  the  elementary  schools  of 
the  Philadelphia  public  school  system  as  organized  during  the  months 
from  September,  1910,  to  January,  1911,  the  information  concerning 
enrollment  and  attendance  being  obtained  at  that  time,  and  the 
experiments  being  made  during  that  period  and  subsequently.  The 
total  number  of  pupils  enrolled  in  the  elementary  schools  was  154,125, 
of  which  8,192  or  5.3  per  cent  were  Negro  children.  This  enrollment 
was  made  from  a  total  number  of  enumerable  children  of  241,623,  of 
whom  9,758  were  Negroes;  and  they  were  enrolled  in  the  238  ele- 
mentary schools  with  their  several  annexes.  The  larger  study  thus 
includes  this  total  number  and  the  larger  comparisons  are  made 
between  total  children  and  Negro  children.  The  larger  group  is 
again  variously  divided.  There  were  two  principal  groups  of  Negro 
children,  those  who  attend  mixed  schools  for  whites  and  Negroes,  and 
those  who  attend  schools  in  which  only  Negro  children  are  enrolled. 
Again,  smaller  groups  are  made  the  basis  of  special  experiments  and 
minute  study,  the  effort  being  to  approximate  in  all  cases,  so  far  as 
possible,  similar  conditions  for  both  white  and  Negro  children,  with 
experiments  made  uniformly  by  the  same  person. 

Of  the  total  Negro  pupils  enrolled  in  the  public  elementary  schools 
approximately  one-fourth  (23.7  per  cent)  were  enrolled  in  nine  sepa- 
rate Negro  schools,  the  remaining  three-fourths  (76.3  per  cent)  being 
enrolled  largely  in  15  per  cent  of  the  total  schools  of  the  city.  Thirty- 
one  per  cent  of  the  schools  of  the  city  have  no  Negro  pupils  enrolled, 
23  per  cent  have  less  than  1  per  cent,  and  20  per  cent  have  between 
1  and  5  per  cent.  The  problem  of  the  Negro  child  is  thus  seen  to 
rest  chiefly  upon  a  relatively  small  proportion  of  the  schools,  and  its 
intensity  varies  widely  in  the  various  schools.  Again,  the  problem 
varies  in  the  several  school  districts,  being  largest  in  the  4th  district 
where  12  per  cent  of  the  pupils  enrolled  are  Negroes,  comprising 


188  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

20  per  cent  of  the  total  Negro  school  population,  although  the  dis- 
trict has  less  than  one-tenth  of  the  whole  school  population.  And 
similarly  for  other  districts.  Negro  children  constitute  5.3  per  cent 
of  all  children  enrolled  in  the  city,  but  constitute  only  4  per  cent  of 
all  children  enumerated  in  the  city,  thus  showing  a  higher  rate  of 
enrollment  than  white  children.  The  Negroes  have  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  females  in  schools  than  the  whites,  the  former  showing  only 
50.4  per  cent  girls  while  the  Negroes  show  52.8  per  cent.  The  increase 
of  Negro  children  hi  the  proportion  of  total  population  for  the  last  five 
years  was  0.5  per  cent  and  the  distribution  of  these  children  in  the 
different  wards  shows  a  larger  scope  of  the  race  school  problem.  The 
shifting  from  ward  to  ward  in  the  school  population  was  a  little  more 
than  twice  as  large  for  the  Negroes  as  for  the  whites.  The  proportion 
of  the  enumerated  whites  and  Negroes  enrolled  is  about  the  same  but 
more  Negro  children  remain  in  schools  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  years 
of  age.  The  Negro  children  show  72.4  per  cent  of  all  Negro  children 
from  fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age  enrolled,  and  the  whites  only 
59.7  per  cent.  Ninety-five  per  cent  of  Negro  children  are  enrolled 
in  public  schools  and  only  74  per  cent  of  white  children.  The  Negro 
children  constitute,  therefore,  preeminently  a  public  problem. 

Further  study  of  distribution  shows  that  a  much  larger  propor- 
tion of  Negro  pupils  are  enrolled  in  the  primary  grades  than  are  white 
pupils.  Of  the  Negro  pupils  enrolled  77.8  per  cent,  and  of  the  white 
pupils  67.8  per  cent  are  enrolled  in  primary  grades.  Again,  4  per  cent 
of  the  white  children  reach  the  eighth  grade  as  opposed  to  2.3  per 
cent  of  the  Negro  children.  Of  the  white  girls  enrolled  33.1  per  cent, 
and  of  the  white  boys  31  per  cent  are  enrolled  in  grammar  grades. 
Compare  this  with  25.9  per  cent  of  Negro  girls  and  17.4  per  cent  of 
Negro  boys  enrolled  in  grammar  grades.  Negro  girls  thus  remain  in 
school  considerably  longer  than  Negro  boys.  The  separate  Negro 
schools  enroll  pupils  chiefly  in  the  primary  grades,  only  9  per  cent 
being  enrolled  in  the  grammar  grades.  The  Negro  pupils  in  the  higher 
grades  are  thus  distributed  throughout  the  mixed  schools.  While  a 
smaller  number  of  Negro  pupils  reach  the  higher  grades  than  the 
whites,  a  larger  number  remain  in  school  to  a  later  age.  Only  2.6 
per  cent  of  the  total  pupils  of  the  city  remain  in  school  above  fourteen 
years  of  age,  the  normal  age  for  the  completion  of  the  eighth  grade, 
while  8.6  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  enrolled  are  over  fourteen  years  of 
age.  Thus,  a  large  part  of  the  white  children  finish  under  age  and  a 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


189 


large  part  of  Negro  children  remain  in  school  beyond  the  normal  age. 
The  Negro  girls  in  school  are  older  than  the  Negro  boys.  Among 
both  white  and  Negro  pupils  the  largest  number  is  enrolled  at  the  age 
of  ten  years.  But  the  proportion  of  Negro  children  at  the  ages  of 
five,  six  and  seven  is  much  smaller;  and  at  the  ages  of  fourteen,  fifteen, 
sixteen  and  seventeen  much  larger  than  among  the  whites.  The  ages 
of  Negro  pupils  in  separate  Negro  schools  approximate  those  of  the 
white  children.  The  total  Negro  children  extend  in  appreciable  num- 
bers from  six  to  eighteen  years  and  the  whites  from  six  to  sixteen. 
The  average  age  for  all  children  in  the  schools  is  9.3  years  and  for  all 
•  Negro  children  is  10.6  years.  That  is,  the  Negroes  average  a  year  and 
a  third  older  than  the  white  children.  The  differences  between  the 
average  ages  of  white  and  Negro  pupils  is  larger  than  this  in  the  ma- 
jority of  grades.  The  following  table  shows  the  average  age  for  each 
grade  and  the  difference  between  white  and  Negro  pupils. 

AVERAGE  AGE  OP  PUPILS  BY  GRADES 


Grade 

White  children 

Negro  children 

Difference 

First  

6.7 

7.6 

0.9 

Second. 

8  2 

9.4 

1.2 

Third  

9  5 

10.9 

1.4 

Fourth  

10.7 

12.1 

1.4 

Fifth  .. 

11  6 

13.1 

1.6 

Sixth  

12.4 

13.9 

1.5 

Seventh  

13.2 

14.6 

1.4 

Eighth  

13  9 

15.5 

1.6 

The  average  of  Negro  pupils  in  each  grade  is  again  compared 
with  the  normal  age. 

"NORMAL"  AGE  AND  AVERAGE  AGE  OP  NEGRO  CHILDREN 


Grade                                   Normal  age 

Average  age  of 
Negro  pupils 

Amount  retarded 

First  7 

7.6 

0.6 

Second  8 

9.4 

1.4 

Third  9 

10.9 

1.9 

Fourth  10 

12.1 

2.1 

Fifth  .                       11 

13.1 

2.1 

Sixth  1'J 

13.9 

1.9 

Seventh  13 

14.6 

1.6 

Eighth..                                                    14 

15.5 

1.5 

190 


THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 


Whereas  the  Negro  pupils  in  the  eight  grade  are  a  year  and  half 
over  age,  the  white  pupils  finish  a  little  under  the  normal  age.  Again, 
in  the  third,  fourth,  fifth  and  sixth  grades  the  Negro  pupils  average 
two  years  older  than  the  normal  age,  and  except  in  the  first  grade 
they  average  a  year  and  a  half  or  more  above  the  normal  age.  The 
average  for  the  Negro  children  in  the  sixth  grade  is  exactly  the  same 
as  that  for  the  white  children  in  the  eighth  grade. 

The  Negro  children  also  show  a  larger  average  deviation  than 
the  white.  The  following  table  gives  the  further  comparison  between 
white  and  Negro  children. 


i 

VHITE  PUPIL 

i 

i 

fEGBO  PUPIL 

B 

Number 
of  pupils 

Average 
age 

Average 
deviation 

Number 
of  pupils 

Average 
age 

Average 
deviation 

First  

29,220 

6.7 

0.8 

1,855 

7.6 

1.1 

Second  

25,378 

8  2 

0  9 

1,648 

9  4 

1  2 

Third  

24,153 

9  5 

1  0 

1,475 

10  9 

1  3 

Fourth  

21,685 

10  7 

1   1 

1,095 

12  1 

1  2 

Fifth  

18,438 

11  6 

1  0 

749 

13  1 

1  1 

Sixth  

13,516 

12.4 

0.9 

500 

13.9 

1.0 

Seventh  

9,196 

13.2 

0.9 

308 

14.6 

1.0 

Eighth  

6,869 

13.9 

0.9 

186 

15.5 

1.0 

From  the  study  of  these  ages  of  white  and  Negro  children  in 
the  grades  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  high  percentage  of  retardation 
among  Negro  children.  A  summary  of  the  detailed  figures  of  age  and 
grade  classifications  shows  the  following  facts.  With  both  white  and 
Negro  children  the  highest  percentage  of  pupils  above  normal  age  is 
in  the  fifth  grade.  With  both  white  and  Negro  children  the  largest 
percentage  below  normal  age  is  in  the  first  grade.  With  white  children 
the  highest  percentage  of  normal  age  children  is  in  the  seventh  grade 
while  with  the  Negro  children  it  is  in  the  first  grade. 

The  total  Negro  pupils  show  71.9  per  cent  retardation,  and  the 
white  children  38.9  per  cent  according  to  the  accepted  standard  which 
allows  one  year  normal  age  for  each  grade.  According  to  a  more 
accurate  standard,  allowing  three  years  range  for  each  grade,  the 
Negroes  show  48.6  per  cent  retardation  and  the  whites  18.6  per  cent. 
Again,  the  Negro  pupils  have  23.2  per  cent  retarded  one  year,  21.9 
per  cent  retarded  two  years,  14.6  per  cent  retarded  three  years,  7.9 
per  cent  retarded  four  years,  3.6  per  cent  retarded  five  years,  1.4 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  191 

per  cent  retarded  six  years  and  0.2  per  cent  retarded  seven  years. 
The  white  pupils  show  20.2  per  cent  retarded  one  year,  11.2  per  cent 
retarded  two  years,  4.8  per  cent  retarded  three  years,  1.7  per  cent 
four  years,  and  0.5  per  cent  five  years.  With  both  white  and  Negro 
children  the  boys  show  slightly  more  retardation  than  the  girls. 
Negro  pupils  in  separate  Negro  schools  have  only  66.7  per  cent 
retardation  as  opposed  to  73.7  per  cent  among  Negro  children  in 
mixed  schools.  The  total  pupils  of  all  schools  show  30.6  per  cent 
below  normal  age  and  30.5  per  cent  normal,  while  Negro  children 
show  only  8.2  per  cent  below  normal  age  and  19.9  per  cent  normal. 
The  72  per  cent  retarded  Negro  pupils  of  Philadelphia  may  be  com- 
pared with  the  Negro  pupils  of  Memphis,  75.8  per  cent,  and  with 
3,670  Philadelphia  pupils  with  defective  vision  having  75  per  cent 
retardation. 

In  high  schools  Negro  boys  are  retarded  60  per  cent  and  Negro 
girls  74.6  per  cent;  white  boys  are  retarded  27.4  per  cent  and  white 
girls  24.1  per  cent.  The  number  of  Negro  pupils  in  the  high  school, 
however,  is  small.  Among  the  whites  there  are  in  the  high  school 
about  sixty  pupils  to  every  1,000  enrolled  in  elementary  schools,  while 
for  the  Negroes  there  are  only  twenty-one  or  about  2  per  cent. 
Again,  for  each  1,000  Negro  boys  there  are  ten  in  the  high  school 
and  for  Negro  girls  thirty,  while  for  white  boys  there  are  sixty-one, 
and  for  white  girls  fifty-seven  to  each  1,000  in  the  elementary  schools. 

Ayres  shows  that  attendance  is  an  important  factor  hi  retarda- 
tion. Having  shown  the  high  percentage  of  retardation  among  Negro 
children,  it  is  necessary  to  inquire  into  their  attendance  and  promo- 
tion. The  average  attendance  for  five  years  among  the  total  pupils 
of  the  city  was  87.7  per  cent  and  for  Negro  pupils  in  the  Negro  schools 
78.8  per  cent,  a  difference  amounting  to  10  per  cent  of  the  total  average 
attendance.  The  irregularity  of  the  Negro  pupils'  attendance  is  made 
up  of  lateness,  days  missed,  and  late  entrance  or  early  leaving  school. 
The  white  children  show  only  0.7  per  cent  of  lateness  and  the  Negro 
pupils  show  3.1  per  cent  or  more  than  four  tunes  that  of  the  white 
children.  In  no  case  do  Negro  schools  have  as  high  record  of  attend- 
ance as  the  average  whites.  In  no  case  do  the  white  schools  show  as 
low  percentage  of  attendance  as  the  average  Negro  schools.  Likewise, 
in  no  case  do  the  Negro  schools  approximate  so  low  a  percentage  of 
lateness  as  the  average  whites,  and  in  no  case  do  the  white  schools  show 
so  high  a  percentage  of  lateness  as  the  average  Negro  schools.  Among 


192  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

the  total  pupils  of  the  city  3.3  per  cent  were  reported  as  remaining  in 
their  grades  more  than  twenty  months  and  0.8  per  cent  more  than 
thirty  months.  Among  Negro  pupils  in  Negro  schools  9.5  per  cent 
remained  in  their  grades  more  than  twenty  months  and  1.2  per  cent 
more  than  thirty  months.  Among  Negro  pupils  in  mixed  schools  9.2 
per  cent  remained  in  grades  more  than  twenty  months,  and  1.1  per 
cent  more  than  thirty  months.  That  is,  three  tunes  as  many  Negro 
pupils  as  whites  remain  in  grades  more  than  twenty  months,  and  six 
times  as  many  more  than  thirty  months.  Of  Negro  pupils  in  mixed 
schools  19  per  cent  remained  in  grades  fifteen  months  or  more  and 
some  25  per  cent  repeated  grades  to  some  extent. 

Ayres  points  out  the  fact  that  bad  effects  of  low  percentages  of 
promotion  increase  with  astonishing  rapidity  as  each  successive  de- 
crease of  the  percentage  promoted  is  made.  Thus  a  difference  of  10  per 
cent  in  the  percentage  of  promotions  is  much  more  than  twice  as  much 
as  5  per  cent.  He  shows  that  a  difference  of  seven  points  in  the  per- 
centage of  promotions,  for  instance,  may  cause  a  difference  in  the 
number  of  pupils  with  clear  records,  in  each  1,000  pupils,  of  220.  That 
is,  with  a  special  average  of  90  per  cent  promotions  in  a  case  where 
no  pupils  die  or  drop  out  of  school,  480  pupils  out  of  every  1,000  reach 
the  eighth  grade  without  failing,  while  with  an  average  of  83  per  cent 
only  260  reach  the  eighth  grade  without  failing.  According  to  this 
standard  of  reckoning  among  the  total  pupils  of  the  Philadelphia 
schools  240  pupils  of  every  1,000  will  reach  the  eighth  grade  without 
failure,  and  among  the  Negro  pupils  only  about  50  would  reach  the 
eighth  grade  without  failure.  That  is,  the  percentage  of  promotions 
among  the  total  pupils  of  the  schools  is  81.8  and  among  Negro  pupils 
in  Negro  schools  70.6  and  among  Negroes  in  mixed  schools  71  per 
cent.  There  is,  thus,  a  large  difference  between  the  reports  of  white 
and  Negro  children,  but  little  difference  between  the  two  groups  of 
Negroes.  The  largest  difference  between  promotions  by  grades  be- 
tween white  and  Negro  children  are  in  the  first,  fifth  and  seventh 
grades.  Among  Negro  pupils  there  is  little  variation  in  the  different 
ages  of  percentages  of  promotions,  and  little  variation  between  boys 
and  girls. 

The  average  markings  by  teachers  reported  for  Negro  children 
were  70;  69  for  boys  and  71  for  girls.  However,  the  range  was  wide, 
there  being  some  5  per  cent  with  grades  of  ninety,  and  25  per  cent 
with  grades  of  eighty.  Of  the  pupils  having  grades  of  ninety,  the 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  193 

earlier  grades  have  a  slightly  larger  proportion  than  the  later  grades 
and  the  girls  excel  the  boys  by  a  small  margin.  Again,  4.9  per  cent 
of  Negro  pupils  in  mixed  schools  were  reported  at  the  head  of  their 
class,  20.9  per  cent  were  in  the  upper  quarter,  39.6  per  cent  were  hi 
the  middle  half,  and  34.3  per  cent  were  in  the  lower  quarter.  In  the 
numerical  rating  pupils  below  the  age  of  thirteen  furnish  the  largest 
proportion  of  grades  above  seventy  and  likewise  higher  averages,  and 
the  older  pupils  show  a  consequent  smaller  proportion  of  higher 
grades,  and  lower  averages.  The  largest  proportion  of  nineties  is 
found  at  eight  and  nine  years  and  the  largest  proportion  of  eighties 
at  eleven  years.  The  highest  average  grade,  seventy-two,  is  found 
at  eleven  years,  and  the  averages  vary  from  seventy  at  seven  years  of 
age  to  sixty-two  at  seventeen.  The  girls  show  a  slightly  better  record 
in  both  averages  and  the  number  having  grades  of  eighty  and  ninety. 

According  to  the  teachers,  Negro  children  find  most  difficulty  in 
arithmetic  and  studies  that  require  compound  concentration  and  pro- 
longed application.  Seventy  per  cent  of  Negro  pupils  reported  show 
their  poorest  work  hi  arithmetic,  as  compared  with  52  per  cent  of 
white  children.  Language,  after  arithmetic,  furnishes  the  greatest 
difficulty.  Reading  and  spelling  offer  comparatively  the  least  diffi- 
culties to  Negro  pupils.  Among  Negro  pupils  hi  mixed  schools  32.7 
per  cent  are  reported  unsatisfactory  hi  deportment  and  among  white 
pupils  22.9  per  cent.  Of  the  Negro  children  having  a  grade  of  ninety 
or  being  at  the  head  of  their  classes,  only  14.3  per  cent  were  reported 
unsatisfactory  while  more  than  40  per  cent  had  excellent  deportment. 
Likewise  the  deportment  of  all  Negro  children  having  better  marks 
and  standing  hi  the  upper  quarter  of  class  work  was  consistently 
better.  Again,  Negro  children  coming  from  better  and  average  homes 
have  better  deportment  than  those  coming  from  the  poorest  homes. 
Likewise  the  poorest  class  of  Negro  homes  furnish  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  pupils  having  the  highest  grades.  Negro  girls  have  slightly 
better  deportment  than  Negro  boys.  There  is  thus  a  decided  positive 
correlation  between  deportment  and  good  work.  The  offenses  charged 
to  Negro  pupils  are  many  and  the  correction  and  the  effective  train- 
ing of  colored  pupils  offer  a  large  field  for  constructive  work. 

Before  forming  conclusions  from  the  above  facts  it  is  necessary 
to  inquire  into  their  causes  and  meaning.  It  should  be  remembered, 
too,  that  there  are  many  exceptions  to  the  totals  and  averages  there 
reported.  That  is,  in  every  phase  of  school  life  the  Negro  children 


194  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

show  a  tendency  to  reach  or  excel  the  median  of  the  white  children, 
and  the  range  from  lowest  to  highest  among  Negro  children  tends  to 
become  wider  than  among  the  whites.  Before  inquiring  into  the 
specific  race  differences,  as  reflected  hi  Negro  children  and  white 
children,  it  will  be  necessary  to  analyze  as  many  as  possible  of  the 
environmental  influences  that  tend  to  change  the  records  made  in 
school.  The  correlation  of  the  home  and  social  environment,  together 
with  present  racial  influences,  with  school  records  will  indicate  the 
source  of  many  difficulties  which  the  Negro  children  have  to  face. 
When  these  influences  have  been  estimated  it  will  be  possible  to  seek 
remedies  for  defects  which  exist  under  the  present  conditions  and  to 
estimate  the  extent  to  which  permanent  changes  are  necessary  and 
upon  what  basis  they  may  be  advocated. 

The  grade  distribution,  retardation  and  promotion  of  pupils  are 
so  inter-related  that  their  causes  may  be  considered  together.  The 
prevailing  practice  among  children  in  all  public  schools  tends  to  cause 
them  to  drop  out  of  the  elementary  schools  at  fourteen  years  of  age. 
There  are  two  main  causes  for  this.  Fourteen  years  is  the  normal  age 
for  the  completion  of  the  eighth  grade,  whence  children  either  drop 
out  of  school  altogether  or  enter  the  high  school.  But  if  they  have  not 
finished  at  that  age  the  compulsory  education  requirements  permit 
them  to  drop  out  of  school  at  that  tune.  Among  the  total  children 
of  the  public  schools  only  2.6  per  cent  remain  to  a  later  age  than  four- 
teen years.  Among  Negro  children  8.6  per  cent  are  above  fourteen 
years  of  age.  Now  it  has  been  seen  that  the  average  age  for  total 
children  in  the  eighth  grade  was  exactly  the  same  as  for  Negro  children 
in  the  sixth  grade.  This  age  is  13.9  years.  The  Negro  pupil  must 
either  drop  out  at  the  sixth  grade  or  remain  hi  school  to  an  aver- 
age age  of  15.6  years.  This  partly  explains  the  smaller  number 
who  reach  the  eighth  grade  among  Negro  children  and  likewise  the 
reasons  for  remaining  hi  school  longer  than  the  whites.  That  is,  if 
the  Negro  children  dropped  out  at  the  age  of  fourteen  as  do  the  whites, 
there  would  be  no  seventh  and  eighth  grade  pupils.  Now  the  Negro 
pupils  do  tend  to  drop  out,  but  not  all,  hence  the  few  who  remain  to  the 
eighth  grade.  Again,  there  is  often  less  incentive  offered  Negro  chil- 
dren to  drop  out  than  white  children,  owing  to  the  limited  field  of  work 
open  to  Negro  boys  and  girls  at  that  age.  Of  course,  the  question  of 
the  aptitude  of  Negro  pupils  to  do  the  work  of  higher  grades  is  an 
important  factor  as  will  be  seen,  but  all  should  not  be  ascribed  to 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  195 

this.  It  is  a  common  fallacy  to  assume  that  because  Negro  pupils 
are  not  enrolled  in  the  higher  grades,  they  therefore  cannot  do  the 
work  given  in  those  grades.  In  addition  to  the  causes  which  make 
them  retarded  and  thus  cause  the  elimination  by  age,  there  are  other 
factors  than  those  suggested.  The  separate  schools  for  Negro  chil- 
dren offer  chiefly  work  in  the  primary  grades,  while  the  grammar 
grade  Negro  pupils  attend  the  mixed  schools  entirely.  It  has  been 
shown  in  some  specific  instances  that  Negro  pupils  attending  crowded 
classes  hi  the  upper  grades  and  competing  with  white  children,  with 
what  they  feel  to  be  unequal  odds,  owing  to  their  higher  age,  and  dis- 
crimination on  the  part  of  teachers  and  pupils,  have  preferred  to  leave 
school  rather  than  attend  under  these  circumstances.  And  unless 
there  are  home  influences  or  age  requirements  to  keep  them  in  school 
the  elimination  is  easy.  This  element  enters  to  some  extent  in  all 
mixed  schools  and  it  is  not  possible  to  analyze  influences  to  fix  the 
exact  amount. 

But  assuming,  first,  that  the  age  elimination  is  largest,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  retardation.  This  in  turn  will  have 
a  direct  relation  to  the  promotion  of  Negro  pupils  and  hence  will 
throw  light  on  the  question  of  their  aptitude  to  do  the  work  of  higher 
grades.  It  was  shown  that  the  Negro  pupils  approximate  twice  as 
much  retardation  as  the  white  pupils  according  to  the  accepted  stand- 
ard of  normal  age  and  that  according  to  a  more  refined  standard  they 
approximate  three  times  as  much.  Further  it  was  shown  that  in  the 
majority  of  grades  the  Negro  pupils  are  consistently  two  years  behind 
the  white  children.  Is  this  retardation  due  to  lack  of  progress,  as  is 
commonly  assumed?  Or  is  the  slow  progress  due  entirely  to  lack  of 
aptitude  for  school  work?  It  was  shown  in  the  inquiry  that  more 
than  one-third  of  the  pupils  in  the  schools  were  born  outside  of  Phila- 
delphia and  largely  in  the  Southern  States,  especially  Virginia  and 
Maryland.  Those  who  thus  enter  begin  late,  first  because  they  are 
accustomed  to  less  schooling  in  their  home  communities,  and  secondly, 
because  the  change  of  residence  causes  uniform  loss  of  attendance  in 
every  school.  The  retardation  begun  is  accelerated  in  the  adaptation  to 
new  conditions  and  the  result  is  disastrous  to  progress  and  deportment. 
Again,  the  small  number  of  Negro  children  in  school  at  the  ages  of 
six  and  seven  shows  that  the  Negro  pupils  uniformly  enter  school 
later  than  white  children.  In  addition  to  the  causes  already  men- 
tioned, there  are  various  other  influences,  home  conditions  and  shift- 


196  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

ing  of  population,  which  tend  to  contribute  towards  the  result.  Thus 
the  element  of  population  is  large  in  the  process  of  elimination. 
Again,  the  death  rate  for  Negro  children  is  higher  than  for  white 
children,  and  consequently  the  elimination  due  to  this  is  larger.  While 
this  would  seem  to  be  overbalanced  by  the  influx  of  new  children,  it 
has  been  shown  that  these  children  only  add  to  the  amount  of  retar- 
dation which  accelerates  elimination. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  Negro  children  move  from  ward  to 
ward  and  hence  change  schools  more  frequently  than  do  white  chil- 
dren. In  the  intervals  time  is  lost  and  work  is  hindered.  To  poor 
attendance  is  ascribed  a  large  part  of  the  failure  of  Negro  children. 
Poor  attendance  has  a  number  of  contributing  causes.  A  review  of  the 
facts  as  reported  by  the  trained  nurses  shows  that  the  Negro  children 
are  often  left  to  do  as  they  wish.  More  than  60  per  cent  of  the  mothers 
work  away  from  home.  The  children  oversleep,  or  choose  their  own 
procedure.  They  are  not  infrequently  required  to  run  errands,  and 
assist  at  home  before  going  to  school,  or  for  parts  of  the  day.  They 
are  hindered  by  neglect  and  carelessness,  by  interference,  and  by 
physical  results  of  environment.  The  extent  to  which  this  is  true  has 
been  pointed  out.  Poor  attendance  and  a  high  percentage  of  lateness 
affect  the  quality  of  work  seriously.  But  home  conditions  affect  not 
only  attendance  and  lateness  but  also  the  actual  work  in  school.  The 
quantity  and  quality  of  food  and  the  manner  of  eating  have  been 
shown  to  be  irregular  and  improper.  The  Negro  children  sleep 
irregularly  and  insufficiently.  They  use  intoxicants  to  an  unusual 
extent.  They  are  affected  to  an  unusually  large  extent  with  minor 
bodily  afflictions,  especially  colds,  head  and  throat  troubles.  Their 
conditions  of  bodily  hygiene  are  bad.  In  some  instances  they  are 
poorly  clad.  Thus  the  very  physical  basis  of  attention  is  undermined. 

Again  in  school,  partly  as  a  result  of  the  facts  mentioned,  partly 
because  of  innate  traits,  and  partly  because  of  home  and  race  influ- 
ences, the  Negro  children  do  not  apply  themselves  to  their  work. 
Lack  of  study  is  often  responsible  for  unsatisfactory  work  instead 
of  inability  to  succeed  in  their  studies.  Especially  is  this  true  of  their 
home  study.  There  are  few  incentives  to  study  at  home,  little  favor- 
able influence  to  promote  it,  and  practically  no  facilities  in  the  way 
of  reading.  Again  Negro  parents  are  unable  to  assist  their  children 
in  most  cases  and  are  not  always  disposed  to  do  so.  The  mothers 
and  fathers  working  out,  the  promiscuous  mingling  and  visiting, 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  197 

moral  and  other  irregularities  noted  previously — all  these  contribute 
towards  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  Negro  children. 

In  this  way  many  other  factors  might  be  correlated  with  the  poor 
resulting  conditions  of  Negro  children  in  the  schools  already  enumer- 
ated. Under  existing  environment  the  retardation,  attendance,  pro- 
motions, quality  of  work  and  deportment  are  natural  products.  In- 
quiry was  made  into  the  home  conditions  of  Negro  pupils  whose 
records  were  high.  This  inquiry  reported  only  those  pupils  about 
whom  there  was  no  doubt  in  their  classification.  The  results  showed 
that  the  poorest  homes  furnished  only  a  small  per  cent  and  that  the 
best  and  average  homes  furnished  about  equal  proportions.  There 
was  no  verification  of  the  assumption  that  all  bright  Negro  children 
are  mulattoes. 

Some  of  the  causes  affecting  the  present  status  of  Negro  chil- 
dren in  the  schools  have  been  suggested  thus  at  length.  Others 
may  be  studied  from  the  context.  So  far  as  the  results  of  this  study 
up  to  this  point  are  concerned,  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  Negro 
children  differ  from  white  children  because  of  race.  There  is  much 
evidence  to  show  that  they  differ  largely — whether  because  of  envi- 
ronment or  only  in  the  midst  of  environment  cannot  be  discussed  here. 
It  is  absolutely  necessary,  therefore,  to  report  an  exhaustive  and 
scientific  study  of  more  exact  measurements  before  any  conclusions 
can  be  reached  in  regard  to  race  differences. 

But  for  the  present,  neither  the  causes  nor  the  processes  serve 
to  change  the  condition.  Whatever  they  are  it  has  been  shown  that 
Negro  pupils  constitute  a  separate  problem  of  education  in  the  schools 
and  it  is  necessary  to  interpret  the  meaning  of  facts,  regardless  of 
their  causes.  Then  when  the  more  exact  causes  have  been  determined 
it  will  be  possible  to  know  the  more  exact  significance  of  the  facts 
reported. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  problem  of  the  Negro  child  has  two  distinct 
larger  meanings.  The  first  is  the  effect  of  the  present  conditions 
upon  the  successful  application  of  the  present  school  system  to  Negro 
children.  Rated  according  to  the  usual  standards,  it  has  been  shown 
that  the  schools  are  not  successful  in  teaching  Negro  children.  These 
children  are  not  receiving  education  approximating  their  needs  either 
for  liberal  training  or  industrial  work.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  place 
the  blame  entirely  upon  the  Negro  children.  The  second  meaning  of 
the  facts  has  to  do  with  the  effect  which  this  slow  rate  of  progress 


198  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

and  over-age  has  upon  the  white  children,  involving  the  working 
efficiency  of  the  whole  school  system.  If  the  eight  thousand  Negro 
pupils  in  the  schools,  of  whom  more  than  5,590  are  retarded,  were  all 
grouped  together,  the  problem  would  involve  only  about  that  number 
of  retarded  pupils.  But  these  Negro  children  are  enrolled  in  many 
schools  involving  primarily  more  than  60,000  children.  Because  of 
the  dull  Negro  pupils  hi  each  class,  the  teachers  claim  that  the  entire 
class  must  lose  much  tune  and  thus  the  rate  of  progress  and  the 
degree  of  efficiency  are  lowered.  This  repetition  of  time  on  the  part 
of  the  teachers  varies  from  almost  40  per  cent  in  the  more  difficult 
subjects  to  a  much  smaller  amount  in  easier  studies.  If  this  repeated 
teaching  is  not  given,  the  Negro  pupils  suffer  and  thus  add  to  the 
already  high  percentage  of  retardation.  Unfortunately,  there  is  no 
way  of  measuring  this  loss  and  subtracting  the  degree  of  similar 
losses  in  the  same  classes  because  of  dull  white  pupils,  in  order  to 
ascertain  the  median  generic  loss  caused  by  the  retarded  Negro  pupils 
in  each  subject  and  grade. 

It  is  possible,  however,  to  estimate  the  number  of  years  lost  by 
Negro  pupils  in  the  aggregate.  That  is,  the  number  of  years  repre- 
sented in  the  total  over-age  pupils  is  a  measure  of  ultimate  loss  which 
the  Negro  pupils  sustain  through  elimination  and  retardation.  This 
loss  is  not  always  a  loss  in  expense  to  the  city  by  any  means,  for,  as 
has  been  shown,  late  entrance  accounts  for  much  of  the  Negro  pupils' 
retardation.  It  does  in  every  case,  however,  show  the  relation  be- 
tween the  over-age  pupil  and  the  normal  pupil,  and  some  inference 
may  be  drawn  as  to  the  extent  to  which  normal  pupils  are  hindered 
and  loss  of  time  incurred. 

If  the  aggregate  years  of  pupils  over-age  be  calculated  for  the 
white  children,  there  would  be  87,242  such  years  or  approximately 
six  months  for  each  child  reported.  If  the  same  aggregate  for  Negro 
children  be  calculated  there  would  be  13,842  such  years  or  approxi- 
mately twenty-one  months  for  each  Negro  enrolled.  That  is,  of  the 
total  years  above  normal  age  for  all  children,  101,084,  Negro  children 
have  more  than  12  per  cent.  These  years  of  retardation  may  not  cost 
a  large  amount  of  money,  but  tax  the  efficiency  of  the  schools.  This 
cost  to  efficiency,  caused  by  the  retarded  pupils,  is  further  intensified 
by  the  prejudice  existing  in  the  minds  of  white  pupils  and  teachers. 
This  difficulty  may  be  understood  when  it  is  remembered  that  the 
white  teachers  are  teaching  day  after  day  a  group  of  children  in 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  199 

whom  the  majority  can  see  few  strong  points.  The  full  meaning  of 
the  present  situation  cannot  be  discussed  adequately  until  the  studies 
of  exact  measurements,  comparisons  of  Negro  children  in  mixed  and 
separate  schools  according  to  uniform  school  tests,  and  comparison 
of  teaching  efficiency  in  the  white  and  Negro  schools  have  been 
reported.  Meantime  it  is  well  to  proceed  with  the  second  division 
of  this  inquiry. 

Tests  of  General  Intelligence  and  Mental  Processes 

It  is  perhaps  an  accepted  theory  that  the  influence  of  environ- 
ment is  much  more  powerful  in  the  displacement  of  an  individual  or 
group  downward  than  upward.  That  is,  unfavorable  environment 
may  easily  retard  or  warp  growth,  and  take  away  from  their  highest 
possibilities  the  energies  that  make  a  high  mental  or  physical  develop- 
ment possible.  While  favorable  environment,  likewise,  has  its  strong 
influence  in  developing  mental  and  physical  energies  to  their  natural 
consummation,  it  can  rarely  raise  them  beyond  their  natural  abilities. 
Suppose  a  group  of  individuals  of  median  abilities  be  divided  into  two 
parts,  the  one  placed  under  favorable  environment,  the  other  under 
unfavorable  environment.  The  part  living  under  unfavorable  envi- 
ronment will  furnish  a  larger  proportion  of  the  exceptionally  inferior, 
than  will  the  other  group  of  exceptionally  superior;  or  to  consider  the 
individual,  a  person  of  only  the  median  ability  cannot  be  raised  to 
the  rank  of  the  most  exceptional  superiority  by  any  environment, 
whereas,  the  individual  of  median  ability  may  often  be  reduced  by 
environment  to  the  most  exceptionally  inferior.2  Now  this  fact  is  of 
special  significance  in  the  study  of  Negro  children.  On  the  one  hand 
it  lends  support  to  the  conclusion  that  the  failure  and  defects  of  Negro 
children  may  be  due  only  to  environment  which  is  unfavorable  to 
their  highest  development.  There  is,  thus  far,  no  evidence  to  contra- 
dict such  a  conclusion,  while  there  is  much  evidence  to  show  that  the 
environment  under  which  Negro  children  have  grown  is  unfavorable 
to  the  development  of  the  mental  abilities  commonly  accepted  as 
superior.  But  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  lend  evidence  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  no  environment,  however  good  and  however  much  of  favor- 
able training  and  positive  impetus  it  might  offer,  can  raise  individuals 
of  only  moderate  efficiency  and  intelligence  to  a  station  of  superiority. 

2  See  Thorndike's  Educational  Psychology,  p.  210. 


200  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

Now  it  has  been  shown  that  Negro  children  show  a  large  proportion 
of  inferior  inefficiency  in  certain  accepted  fields  according  to  certain 
accepted  methods  of  rating.  They  also  show  a  certain  proportion  of 
apparently  exceptional  superiority  in  certain  processes  and  activities. 
Here  again  the  results  indicate,  on  the  one  hand,  that  Negro  children 
conform  to  the  conditions  in  which  environment  is  the  chief  factor 
in  determining  the  results;  and  likewise,  owing  to  admixture  of  white 
blood,  and  owing  to  the  inaccuracy  of  measurements,  there  is  no  evi- 
dence to  show  that  they  do  not  appear  to  furnish  only  mediocre 
native  abilities  at  the  best.  With  only  this  knowledge  at  hand,  it  is 
absolutely  impossible  to  say  bow  much  and  of  what  sort  are  the  innate 
differences  between  white  and  Negro  children.  So  far  the  inferiority 
of  Negro  children  in  school  efficiency  has  been  reported  only  in  terms 
of  very  general  estimates  and  the  study  and  correlation  of  even  imme- 
diate environment  showed  sufficient  influence  to  bring  about  present 
conditions.  But  no  tests  of  efficiency  in  specific  processes  have  been 
made  and  no  relative  standard  of  intelligence  established.  It  is 
necessary,  therefore,  to  measure  with  methods  of  scientific  precision 
the  mental  and  physical  traits  of  the  median  group  of  Negro  children 
and  to  report  the  results  in  terms  of  objective  units.  These  must  then 
be  compared  with  similar  exact  measurements  of  the  median  white 
children.  Next  the  exceptionally  inferior  and  the  exceptionally 
superior  children  must  be  studied  and  the  nature  of  the  basis  of 
their  inferior  and  superior  qualities  be  ascertained  so  far  as  is  possible. 
These  measurements  must  include  both  mental  and  physical  processes 
and  their  combinations  and  so  far  as  possible  the  total  intelligence  of 
the  children.  When  this  has  been  done  it  will  be  possible  to  rate 
any  differences  that  may  be  of  long  standing,  inherent,  if  not  inher- 
ited, and  upon  this  base  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  needs  and 
perhaps  possiblities  of  the  children  may  be  built.  Upon  this  basis, 
too,  may  be  begun  studies  of  actual  racial  psychology  and  important 
aspects  of  American  education. 

First,  it  is  necessary  to  study  mental  processes.  The  list  of  im- 
portant aspects  of  total  mentality  which  might  be  tested,  is  almost 
unlimited.  However,  certain  generally  accepted  fundamental  proc- 
esses may  be  tested  and  their  quickness,  breadth,  intensity  and 
strength  ascertained.  The  physical  basis  and  motor  processes  may 
then  be  studied  and  correlated.  But  as  a  preparation  for  such  inquiry 
let  the  total  intelligence  of  the  children  be  measured  according  to 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  201 

some  accepted  and  approximately  accurate  standard.  Such  a  stand- 
ard should  be  apart  from  knowledge  gained  primarily  in  the  school 
room,  and  should  test  only  general  intelligence.  Such  a  test  is  found 
in  the  Binet  measuring  scale  of  intelligence  which  furnishes  a  simple 
but  accurate  test  for  each  year  up  to  fourteen  years  of  age.  The  test 
for  the  fourteenth  year  was  entirely  impractical  but  the  other  tests 
were  used  with  every  precaution  for  accuracy.  The  method  was  the 
same  as  that  used  by  Goddard  and  the  tests  for  Negro  children 
accordingly  compared  with  those  made  upon  whites  by  Dr.  Goddard.3 
The  number  of  white  children  tested  by  Dr.  Goddard  was  1,547  and 
the  number  of  Negro  children  tested  in  this  study  was  300,  the  num- 
ber being  unavoidably  limited,  but  the  selection  a  fair  chance  selection. 

Of  these  numbers  the  white  children  showed  21  per  cent  testing 
one  year  above  age  and  20  per  cent  testing  one  year  below  age,  while 
the  Negro  children  show  only  5  per  cent  one  year  above  age  and  26  per 
cent  one  year  below  age.  Negro  children  show  6.3  per  cent  feeble- 
minded as  compared  with  3.9  per  cent  white  children.  The  figures 
for  the  white  children  conform  closely  to  a  normal  curve  while  the 
upper  half  of  the  curve  for  Negro  children  is  almost  entirely  wanting. 
The  median  for  the  white  children  falls  within  the  "at  age"  period 
while  with  Negro  children  it  falls  decidedly  at  "one  year  below  age." 
Taking  three  years,  one  above  age,  at  age,  and  one  below  age,  as 
"normal"  and  plotting  the  curves  the  result  is  almost  identical  to 
the  similar  curve  plotted  for  normal,  below  and  above  normal  age  as 
indicated  in  the  grade  distribution  already  described,  indicating  that 
the  school  grading  and  the  Binet  tests  coincide  so  far  as  the  classifi- 
cation of  Negro  children  is  concerned. 

The  total  averages,  however,  do  not  represent  the  tests  accu- 
rately in  the  case  of  Negro  children.  The  Negro  children  at  five, 
six  and  seven  years  test  about  normal,  while  the  older  children  test 
far  below  normal.  Those  at  five  years  test  5.1  years,  while  the  fifteen 
year  old  children  tested  only  11.3  years.  The  average  thus  goes  from 
0.1  year  above  to  3.7  years  below  age. 

The  following  table  gives  the  average  intelligence  for  each  year 
and  the  number  tested. 

Here  again  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  a  larger  number  of  tests, 
and  also  to  make  other  tests  in  order  to  ascertain  the  accuracy  of  the 
tests  for  the  older  children. 

3  See  The  Training  School,  January,  1910,  and  1911. 


202 


THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 


Further  detailed  study  of  the  tests  for  each  year  reveals  other 
important  considerations.  The  tests  for  the  sixth  year  were  answered 
by  a  larger  per  cent  of  Negro  children  of  that  age  than  of  white  chil- 
dren. In  the  seventh  year  Negro  children  were  approximately  as  good 
as  the  white,  and  thence  they  decrease  to  the  thirteenth  year  regularly 
until  at  that  age  no  Negro  children  thirteen  years  of  age  passed  the 
test.  In  only  the  sixth  and  seventh  years  could  more  than  50  per  cent 
of  the  Negro  children  pass  the  test  for  their  ages  so  that  the  question 
is  raised  as  to  whether  the  tests  are  not  misplaced  in  this  instance 
and  whether  it  is  quite  fair  to  use  the  same  standards  with  Negro 
children  as  with  white  children. 

A  second  general  test  was  given  to  supplement  the  Binet  tests 
with  better  results.  The  completion  method  of  Ebbinghaus  was  used 

AVERAGE  INTELLIGENCE  OF  NEGRO  CHILDREN 


Age 

Number  of  pupils 

Average  age  by  Binet 
tests 

Average  amount 
backward  (years) 

5 

10 

5.1 

0.1  (above) 

6 

33 

5.6 

0.4 

7 

42 

6.7 

0.3 

8 

45 

7.3 

0.7 

9 

36 

7.2 

1.8 

10 

37 

8.6 

1.4 

11 

33 

9.5 

1.5 

12 

20 

10.5 

1.5 

13 

23 

10.4 

2.6 

14 

13 

10.7 

3.3 

15 

8 

11.3 

3.7 

with  a  view  to  testing  children  on  their  ability  "to  combine  fragments 
or  isolated  sections  into  a  meaningful  whole."4  The  test  was  given 
to  white  and  Negro  children  from  eleven  to  fourteen  years  of  age. 
The  text  contained  93  elisions.  The  average  number  correct  for  the 
white  children  was  56.4  and  for  the  Negro  children  47.5.  Ten  per 
cent  of  the  white  children  returned  incoherent  completions  and  35 
per  cent  of  the  Negro  children.  Thirty-five  per  cent  of  Negro  chil- 
dren made  completion  by  phrase  only  as  opposed  to  10.8  per  cent  of 
white  children.  The  mode  for  white  children  ranged  from  fifty  to 
seventy  and  for  Negro  children  from  forty  to  fifty. 

*  The  test  is  given  in  Whipple's  Manual  of  Menial  and  Physical  Tests. 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  203 

Next  cajne  the  tests  for  "single  traits,"  the  first  of  which  was 
Thorndike's  "A"  test  for  simple  perception,  the  results  being  graded 
according  to  the  number  of  "A's"  marked  regardless  of  the  number 
omitted.  Three  hundred  and  ten  white  children  and  275  Negro 
children  were  tested  with  the  result  that  Negro  children  showed  a 
higher  average  of  performance  and  a  wider  range  of  variability,  the 
Negro  children  marking  an  average  of  21.9  and  the  white  children 
19.3  while  the  average  deviation  for  the  Negroes  was  6.9  and  for  the 
whites  4.2.  The  curve  for  the  white  children  tends  to  conform  to  a 
normal  curve  of  distribution  while  that  for  the  Negro  children  is  flat 
and  irregular. 

The  next  test  given  was  Thorndike's  "A-t"  test  for  association 
of  ideas,  thus  taking  one  step  more.  The  same  number  of  children 
were  tested  with  the  result  that  white  and  Negro  children  are  approx- 
imately equal  in  average  performance  but  Negro  children  again  show 
larger  deviations.  The  average  performance  of  white  children  was 
16.9  and  for  Negro  children  16.6  and  the  deviations  being  3.7  and  4.2 
respectively.  Here  again  the  curve  for  white  children  conforms  more 
closely  to  the  normal  distribution,  the  whites  excelling  in  the  mode  and 
average  and  the  Negroes  in  variability  and  range. 

The  next  test  added  to  association  of  ideas  and  perception, 
controlled  association  as  suggested  in  Thorndike's  "opposites"  test. 
Here  the  difference  between  the  two  groups  was  much  larger,  the 
average  for  the  whites  being  13.2  and  for  the  Negroes  10.5,  and 
still  the  deviation  for  the  Negroes  was  4.4  as  opposed  to  3.6  for  the 
whites.  The  curve  for  white  children  tends  again  to  normal  while 
that  for  Negro  children  is  multimodal  and  very  irregular,  being 
exactly  the  opposite  of  the  whites  for  whom  the  test  was  a  little 
too  easy,  it  being  a  little  too  difficult  for  completion  by  the  Negro 
children. 

The  next  test  combines  association  of  ideas  and  controlled  asso- 
ciation with  some  knowledge  and  facility  in  spelling  as  outlined  by 
Thorndike's  misspelled  word  test.  In  grading  according  to  efficiency 
in  marking  misspelled  words  the  difference  was  found  to  be  greater 
than  in  other  tests.  The  white  children  have  10.6  per  cent  who  mark 
from  90  to  100  while  the  Negro  children  have  only  1.5  per  cent.  The 
white  children  showed  only  1.3  per  cent  who  marked  under  20  while 
the  Negro  children  showed  10.8  per  cent.  The  mode  for  the  white 
children  was  at  80  and  for  the  Negro  children  at  30.  The  average  for 


204  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

white  children  was  69.6  and  for  Negro  children  50.6  while  the  deviation 
for  Negro  children  was  again  larger  than  for  white  children,  and  the 
curves  are  similar  to  those  of  other  tests.  In  grading  the  same  test 
according  to  the  number  omitted  the  same  results  were  noted,  a 
lower  efficiency  and  larger  deviation. 

Thus  in  these  tests  ranging  from  the  simplest  to  more  complex 
the  Negro  children  tend  to  decrease  in  efficiency  as  the  complexity 
of  the  process  increases,  as  compared  with  white  children.  In  the 
first  they  excel  slightly;  in  the  second  they  almost  equal  the  perform- 
ance of  the  whites;  in  the  third  they  fall  eonsiderably  below  and  in  the 
fourth  very  much  below.  In  all  cases  the  deviation  is  considerably  larger 
for  the  Negro  children,  thus  raising  very  important  considerations. 

Conclusion 

Further  tests  and  measurements  of  white  and  Negro  children 
might  have  been  carried  to  an  almost  indefinite  extent  with  profit. 
But  the  limit  of  this  study,  bounded  by  the  facilities  at  hand,  had 
been  reached,  and  sufficient  data  obtained  to  permit  brief  summaries, 
conclusions  and  discussions  of  the  relative  differences  between  white 
and  Negro  children  in  their  school  environment. 

In  considering  the  data  given  it  must  be  remembered  that  they 
apply  to  Negro  children  as  they  are  found  today,  the  product  of  inher- 
itance and  environment,  and  that  the  question  of  inherent  race  traits, 
in  the  strictly  anthropological  meaning,  is  entirely  apart  from  the  pres- 
ent discussion.  It  is  hoped  that  researches  into  race  differences  will 
be  aided  by  the  facts  reported  in  this  study,  but  that  is  not  the  main 
object  of  this  inquiry.  If  the  cumulative  influence  of  immediate  and 
remote  ancestry  on  the  one  hand,  and  immediate  and  remote  environ- 
ment on  the  other,  has  been  such  as  to  bring  about  present  conditions, 
it  is  essential  to  analyze  these  conditions  and  undertake  to  determine 
what  further  influences  will  bring  the  best  results  from  continuing 
inheritance  and  environment.  There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  prob- 
lem from  the  practical  viewpoint  of  efficiency  in  education  or  from 
the  viewpoint  of  accepted  principles  of  education,  psychology,  and 
anthropology. 

It  may  be  'repeated  that  in  a  problem  of  such  long-developed 
standing  and  complexity,  both  in  itself  and  in  its  relation  to  environ- 
ment, final  conclusions  cannot  be  reached  at  once.  Dogmatic  asser- 
tions and  hasty  recommendations  should  be  avoided  and  the  full  force 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  205 

of  study  and  recommendation  be  directed  toward  further  research 
and  the  application  of  knowledge  and  means  now  available. 

With  these  qualifications  in  mind,  conclusions  may  be  reached 
which  will  be  of  value  in  attempting  to  solve  the  pedagogical  and 
administrative  problems  involved  and  in  placing  the  entire  question 
on  a  scientific  basis.  The  study  has  shown  conclusively  that  there 
are  distinct  differences  between  white  and  Negro  children  in  all  three 
of  the  aspects  studied,  namely,  environment,  school  conditions  and 
progress,  and  in  mental  and  physical  manifestations.  The  study  of 
home  environment  shows  that  Negro  children  are  at  a  disadvantage, 
in  social  and  moral  influences  and  in  actual  physical  conditions, 
comprising  food,  drink,  sleeping  accommodations,  and  general  hygi- 
enic conditions.  In  addition  to  the  general  social  influences  of  crowded 
conditions  and  lower  standards,  the  children  are  handicapped  by  poor 
air,  water,  food  and  irregular  exercise  and  rest.  Finally  they  receive 
little  intelligent  supervision  and  cooperation  at  home  in  maintaining 
a  continuous  connection  with  school  and  mental  effort,  and  when  leav- 
ing school  face  restricted  opportunities  for  obtaining  a  livelihood. 

The  differences  in  school  attendance  and  progress  are  equally 
large.  Negro  children  show  much  greater  retardation  measured  by 
both  age  and  progress;  a  much  lower  percentage  of  attendance  and 
higher  percentage  of  irregularity;  a  lower  percentage  of  promotion 
and  a  lower  average  of  class  standing.  Great  as  these  differences 
are,  the  influence  of  environment  alone  seems  to  be  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  majority  of  the  results.  It  appears,  therefore,  that 
injustice  would  be  done  to  Negro  children  if  harsh  judgment  be  passed 
upon  them  because  they  do  not  maintain  the  standard  of  the  white 
children.  The  fact  that  the  records  of  a  limited  number  of  Negro 
children  equal  the  records  of  the  best  white  children  gives  indication 
of  larger  possibilities. 

But  the  differences  between  the  two  groups  do  not  end  with  envi- 
ronment and  school  progress.  The  exhaustive  study  of  conditions 
of  school  progress  indicated  that  there  were  differences  in  kind  as 
well  as  in  amount.  The  results  of  the  tests,  applied  uniformly  to 
white  and  Negro  children,  show  that  in  their  manifestation  of  general 
intelligence,  Negro  children,  after  the  age  of  eight  years,  are  behind 
the  white  children;  that  in  single  traits  and  processes  these  older 
children  differ  from  the  white  children  materially;  that  in  comparison 
with  white  children  the  efficiency  of  Negro  children  varies  inversely 


206  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

as  the  complexity  of  the  process;  but  that  in  practically  all  instances 
the  deviations  for  Negro  children  are  larger  than  for  the  white  chil- 
dren; and  in  many  cases  the  individuals  among  the  Negro  children 
range  as  high  as  those  among  the  white  children.  The  white  children 
tend  always  to  conform  to  a  normal  curve  of  distribution,  and  the 
Negro  children  tend  toward  a  flat,  irregular,  and  not  infrequently, 
multimodal  curve.  These  facts  apply  to  both  normal  and  backward 
children. 

As  far  as  the  data  presented  show,  the  differences  in  physical 
measurement  of  height,  weight,  neck  and  chest  measurements,  and 
temperature,  respiration,  and  pulse,  are  much  less  and  show  less  con- 
sistency in  variation,  and  appear  more  traceable  to  the  influence  of 
immediate  environment  than  do  other  differences. 

That  these  facts  are  significant  there  can  be  little  doubt.  That 
they  present  certain  complex  problems  is  entirely  consistent  with  the 
inevitable  results  of  a  long  and  varied  race  inheritance  combined  with 
an  equally  varying  environment.  If,  as  Professor  Boas  concludes, 
"Even  granting  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  influence  to  environ- 
ment, it  is  readily  seen  that  all  the  essential  traits  of  men  are  due 
primarily  to  heredity"5  and  if  further  "we  must  conclude  that  the 
fundamental  traits  of  the  mind  ....  are  the  more  subject 
[than  physical  traits]  to  far-reaching  changes"6  and  "we  are  neces- 
sarily led  to  grant  also  a  great  plasticity  of  the  mental  make-up  of 
human  types,"7  it  would  clearly  be  impossible  for  the  Negro  chil- 
dren to  show  the  same  manifestations  of  mental  traits  as  white 
children,  after  having  been  under  the  influence  of  entirely  different 
environments  for  many  generations. 

This  conclusion  also  brings  with  it  a  great  responsibility.  The 
fact  that  such  important  differences  exist  between  the  white  and  Negro 
children  and  that  they  have  arisen  naturally  through  long  periods  of 
growth  in  different  environment,  brings  with  it  an  obligation  to  deter- 
mine the  exact  nature  of  the  differences,  their  specific  causes,  and  the 
means  by  which  a  new  environment  and  method  may  overcome  such 
weaknesses  as  are  found.  The  fact  that  the  Negro  children  show  great 
variability  in  all  activities  combined  with  the  accepted  theory  of  the 
plasticity  of  human  types,  gives  indications  of  great  possibilities  in 

1  The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man,  p.  76. 

•  Changes  in  Bodily  Form  of  Descendants  of  Immigrants. 


NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  207 

the  development  of  the  Negro.  But  it  also  characterizes  all  efforts  to 
deny  the  existence  of  fundamental  differences  between  the  white  and 
Negro  children  as  inconsistent  and  harmful  to  the  development  of 
the  Negro  race,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the  permanent  adjustment 
of  conditions  on  the  other. 

The  importance  of  these  considerations  may  be  emphasized 
further  by  referring  to  certain  specific  results  of  the  study.  For  in- 
stance, the  results  of  the  Binet  tests  indicated  that  after  the  eighth 
year  the  median  Negro  child  was  unable  to  perform  the  intellectual 
processes  commonly  ascribed  to  a  normal  white  child  of  that  age. 
Apparently  the  Negro  children  found  it  very  difficult  to  go  beyond 
their  inheritance  of  simple  mental  processes  and  physical  growth.  But 
they  exercise  to  a  high  degree  of  efficiency  the  simple  processes  which, 
if  coordinated,  would  lead  to  a  higher  degree  of  general  intellectuality. 
Favorable  environment  can  add  nothing;  it  can  only  develop  the  qual- 
ities already  possessed.  If,  then,  it  is  possible  to  know  the  exact 
defects  in  development,  and  the  nature  of  the  traits  possessed,  it  will 
be  possible  to  develop  the  inherent  energies  and  qualities  in  the  right 
channels  provided  the  method  of  training  shall  involve  sufficient  detail 
and  extend  over  sufficient  time.  Herein  lies  the  great  value  of  defin- 
ing the  exact  differences  between  the  several  groups  of  children  in- 
volved; for  in  this  way  only  can  efficient  training  for  the  development 
of  native  energies  be  provided.  This  is  the  basis  of  the  great  advance 
in  modern  intellectual  methods  and  is  entirely  in  accord  with  accepted 
anthropological  knowledge. 

Responsibility  does  not  end,  however,  with  the  effort  to  provide 
education  which  will  ultimately  develop  the  children  into  their  high- 
est capabilities.  The  present  and  immediate  future  must  be  provided 
for.  The  great  majority  of  Negro  children  not  only  do  not  enter  the 
high  school  but  also  fail  to  complete  the  elementary  grades.  Less 
than  2  per  cent  of  the  Negro  children  of  school  age  reach  the  eighth 
grade.  Furthermore,  their  training  to  the  period  of  dropping  out  of 
school  fits  them  neither  for  any  special  work  in  life  nor  for  competing 
with  the  more  fortunate  and  better  fitted  in  society  at  large.  The 
opportunities  for  employment  of  Negro  children  thus  equipped  are 
limited,  and  they  are  forced  to  continue  the  struggle  under  even  more 
unfavorable  conditions.  Add  to  all  the  inequalities  already  mentioned 
the  fact  that  the  standard  of  excellence,  toward  which  white  and  Negro 
children  unconsciously  strive,  is  often  entirely  different.  An  indi- 


208  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

vidual  among  the  whites  and  an  individual  among  the  Negroes  may 
each  measure  up  to  the  maximum  ideal  of  his  habitual  social  and 
mental  horizon  and  each  deserve  100  per  cent  credit,  and  yet  the 
objective  measure  of  final  achievement  may  be  larger  in  the  one  case 
than  in  the  other.  What  then,  can  the  school  and  society  expect  of 
children  to  whom  they  give  neither  special  training  for  life  nor  equal 
opportunity  in  the  struggle?  Here  again  the  basis  of  improvement 
is  found  in  the  exact  definition  of  conditions  as  they  are  and  a 
recognition  of  their  significance. 

It  follows  that  from  the  community  standpoint  an  effort  should 
be  made  not  only  to  provide  proper  education  and  vocational  training 
and  guidance,  but  the  present  unfavorable  conditions  should  be  so 
remedied  as  to  influence  the  smallest  possible  number  of  children  and 
schools.  If  the  lack  of  adaptation  of  children  to  the  curricula  is 
costing  the  community  thousands  of  dollars  annually  and  is  at  the 
same  time  a  hindrance  to  school  efficiency  and  progress,  and  if  even 
at  this  great  cost  the  desired  objects  are  not  obtained,  can  there  be 
doubt  concerning  the  need  for  a  more  definite  program? 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  NEGROES  IN  THE  UNITED 

STATES 

BY  EDWARD  T.  WARE,  A.B., 

President,  Atlanta  University,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Since  1823  there  have  been  graduated  from  American  colleges 
about  5,000  Negroes,  1,000  from  Northern  colleges  and  4,000  from 
colleges  established  especially  for  Negroes  in  the  South.  Probably 
as  many  as  900  of  these  college  graduates  have  been  women.  Only 
34  Negroes  were  graduated  before  emancipation  and  over  two-thirds 
of  these  from  Oberlin  College.  The  first  three  American  Negro  col- 
lege graduates  were  from  Bowdoin,  Middlebury  and  Ohio.  The  only 
Negro  institution  to  establish  a  college  department  before  the  edict 
of  freedom  was  Wilberforce  University  in  Ohio.  The  department 
was  established  here  in  1856,  and  during  its  first  twenty  years  eleven 
students  were  graduated. 

There  was  no  opportunity  for  higher  education  of  Negroes  in 
the  South  fifty  years  ago,  and  little  or  no  incentive  to  such  educa- 
tion anywhere  in  the  nation.  In  the  South  the  opportunity  and 
incentive  came  speedily  in  the  wake  of  emancipation  and  the  con- 
sequent campaign  of  education.  This  campaign  enlisted  many  earn- 
est and  capable  young  men  and  women  from  the  North,  who  devoted 
themselves  to  the  work  with  a  fine  missionary  zeal.  They  entered 
the  field  under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Missionary  Association, 
and  other  missionary  societies.  By  act  of  Congress  of  March  3, 
1865,  the  Freedman's  Bureau  was  created.  The  commissioner  was 
authorized  to  "cooperate  with  private  benevolent  associations  in 
aid  of  the  freedman."  Through  this  agency  great  assistance  was 
given  to  the  missionar}^  societies  in  their  work.  Under  the  recon- 
struction governments  public  school  systems  for  the  education  of 
the  children  regardless  of  race  were  organized.  Whatever  the  mis- 
takes and  shortcomings  of  the  reconstruction  governments  may  have 
been,  in  the  organizing  of  the  public  school  system  at  least  they 
built  wisely  and  well. 

Through  these  three  agencies — the  missionary  societies,  the  fed- 
eral government  with  its  Freedman's  Bureau  and  the  state  govern- 

209 


210  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

ments  with  their  public  school  systems — the  work  of  educating  the 
freed  Negroes  progressed  rapidly.  Further  to  aid  the  work  there 
were  established  two  great  funds.  In  1867  George  Peabody  gave 
$2,000,000  "for  the  promotion  and  encouragement  of  intellectual, 
moral,  or  industrial  education  among  the  young  of  the  more  destitute 
portions  of  the  Southwestern  States  of  our  Union."  This  gift  was 
for  the  benefit  of  both  races.  It  aided  greatly  in  the  development 
and  improvement  of  the  state  school  systems  by  which  the  Negro 
children  benefited  as  well  as  the  white  children.  The  other  fund 
referred  to  is  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund  which,  when  established  in  • 
1882,  amounted  to  $1,000,000.  It  was  placed  by  Mr.  Slater  in  the 
hands  of  a  board  of  trust  with  large  discretionary  powers,  the  speci- 
fied object  being,  "the  uplifting  of  the  lately  emancipated  popula- 
tion of  the  Southern  States,  and  their  posterity,  by  conferring  on 
them  the  blessings  of  Christian  education."  The  income  is  distributed 
annually  among  the  Negro  institutions  whose  work  commends  itself  to 
the  trustees  of  the  fund,  chiefly  to  pay  the  salaries  of  teachers  of  man- 
ual arts,  and  partly  to  pay  the  salaries  of  normal  instructors.  In  his 
letter  of  gift  Mr.  Slater  suggests  as  methods  of  operation  "the  training 
of  teachers  from  among  the  people  requiring  to  be  taught,  if,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  corporation,  by  such  limited  selection  the  purposes  of 
the  trust  can  be  best  accomplished;  and  the  encouragement  of  such 
institutions  as  are  most  effectually  useful  in  promoting  this  training 
of  teachers."  In  providing  for  the  ultimate  distribution  of  the  fund 
he  says,  "I  authorize  the  corporation  to  apply  the  capital  of  the 
fund  to  the  establishment  of  foundations  subsidiary  to  then  already 
existing  institutions  of  higher  education,  in  such  wise  as  to  make 
the  educational  advantages  of  such  institutions  more  freely  acces- 
ible  to  poor  students  of  the  colored  race."  These  quotations  clearly 
show  the  interest  of  Mr.  Slater  in  the  higher  education  of  the  Negroes. 
The  need  for  "the  training  of  teachers  from  among  the  people  re- 
quiring to  be  taught"  was  one  of  the  great  motives  which  prompted 
the  establishing  of  normal  schools  and  colleges  for  the  Negroes  in 
the  South 

The  other  great  motive  which  prompted  the  missionary  socie- 
ties to  establish  colleges  for  Negroes  was  simple  faith  in  their  possi- 
bilities, and  belief  that  to  them  as  to  the  white  people  should  be  open 
opportunities  for  the  highest  human  development.  Their  motive 
was  in  no  sense  utilitarian.  It  was  simply  Christian.  They  looked 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES  211 

upon  the  Negroes  as  essentially  like  white  people;  what  differences 
there  were  between  the  two  they  considered  accidental  rather  than 
vital,  the  result  of  circumstance  rather  than  the  result  of  race.  Only 
the  future  could  tell  what  would  be  the  outcome  of  their  venture; 
still  they  went  forward  founding  institutions  "for  the  Christian  edu- 
cation of  youth  without  regard  to  race,  sex  or  color,"  and  chartered 
to  do  not  only  college  but  university  work.  This  was  an  expres- 
sion of  great  faith  in  the  possibilities  of  the  recently  emancipated 
slaves.  It  was  truly  democratic  and  truly  Christian.  These  insti- 
tutions were  at  the  beginning,  because  of  the  unpreparedness  of 
their  pupils,  devoted  largely  to  work  of  elementary  and  secondary 
nature.  Their  purpose  was,  however,  distinctly  for  higher  educa- 
tion. The  names  by  which  they  go  and  the  provisions  of  their 
charters  testify  to  this. 

As  stated  above,  the  college  department  of  Wilberforce  Univer- 
sity in  Ohio  was  established  in  1856.  This  is  the  only  institution 
especially  for  Negroes  to  establish  a  college  department  before 
emancipation.  In  Lincoln  University,  Pa.,  the  college  department 
was  established  in  1864.  Other  institutions  established  these  depart- 
ments as  soon  as  what  seemed  a  sufficient  number  of  their  pupils 
were  prepared  to  take  up  college  studies;  Howard  University,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  in  1868;  Straight  University,  New  Orleans,  La.,  in 
1869;  Leland  University,  New  Orleans,  La.,  in  1870;  Shaw  University, 
Raleigh,  N.  C.,  in  1870;  Fisk  University,  Nashville,  Term.,  in  1871; 
Atlanta  University,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  in  1872.  Before  1880  eleven  such 
institutions  had  established  college  departments. 

The  next  twenty  years  were  characterized  by  the  rapid  multi- 
plication of  Southern  institutions  for  the  higher  education  of  the 
Negroes.  During  this  time  there  developed  two  other  classes  of 
institutions  contributing  in  some  measure  to  higher  education:  first, 
those  organized,  officered  and  supported  by  the  Negroes;  secondly, 
those  generally  known  as  the  state  agricultural  and  mechanical  col- 
leges. With  the  growth  of  the  American  Negroes  in  independence 
and  with  their  practical  exclusion  from  the  Southern  white  churches 
there  developed  strong  Negro  churches  and  independent  Negro 
denominations.  These  churches  established  schools  for  their  own 
people,  under  the  control  of  their  several  denominations.  The  schools 
often  aspired,  sometimes  with  reasonable  success,  to  be  institutions 
of  higher  education. 


212  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

The  agricultural  and  mechanical  colleges  for  the  Negroes  are 
institutions  supported  by  the  Southern  States  with  that  portion  of 
their  federal  land  grant  funds  which  they  choose  to  assign  to  their 
Negro  citizens.  As  the  name  implies  these  institutions  devote  their 
chief  energies  to  industrial  and  agricultural  training.  There  are  also 
courses  for  training  teachers.  The  Georgia  State  Industrial  College 
for  Negro  youth  is  of  this  type.  On  June  10  eleven  pupils  were 
graduated  from  the  academic  course  and  thirty-four  from  the  indus- 
trial departments.  The  Florida  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege gives  the  degree  of  B.S.  for  those  who  satisfactorily  meet  the 
requirements.  Some  of  the  Southern  States  take  genuine  pride  in 
the  state  institutions  for  Negroes  and  make  generous  appropriations 
for  their  maintenance.  In  1912  the  Alabama  State  Normal  School 
received  $17,000  and  the  Florida  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 
$12,000  from  state  appropriations.  The  presidents  and  teachers  of 
the  state  schools  are  Negroes  and  the  salaries  paid  are  frequently 
better  than  those  paid  hi  the  institutions  supported  by  Northern 
philanthropy. 

The  number  of  educational  enterprises  for  Southern  Negroes 
which  are  doing  at  least  some  work  of  college  grade  is  so  great  as 
to  be  bewildering;  and  calls  for  some  attempt  wisely  to  discriminate 
among  them  and  to  determine  the  value  of  the  work  they  are  doing. 
Three  years  ago  such  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  sociological 
department  of  Atlanta  University  hi  connection  with  the  fifteenth 
annual  Atlanta  conference  for  the  study  of  Negro  problems.  The 
report  of  this  study  is  published  under  the  title  "The  College-Bred 
Negro  American."  More  recently,  hi  November  and  December, 
1912,  Mr.  W.  T.  B.  Williams,  field  agent  of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund, 
made  a  comparative  study  of  the  Negro  universities  in  the  South. 
This  was  published  by  the  Slater  Fund  as  number  13  of  their  Occa- 
sional Papers.  From  these  sources  may  be  gained  valuable  infor- 
mation regarding  Southern  institutions  for  the  higher  education  of 
the  Negroes.  The  Atlanta  study  hi  discussing  the  Negro  colleges 
makes  a  classification  based  upon  high  school  work  required  for 
admission  and  the  number  of  students  enrolled  in  1909-1910  in 
classes  of  college  grade,  whether  in  the  normal  or  college  departments. 
There  were  twenty-three  institutions  which  required  fourteen  units 
of  high  school  work  for  admission  to  college  classes,  the  amount  of 
work  laid  down  by  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES  213 

of  Teaching  as  necessary  to  prepare  adequately  for  college  entrance. 
Of  the  twenty-three,  eleven  had  more  than  twenty  students  of  col- 
lege rank.  Nine  others  were  doing  work  of  college  grade.  The 
following  conclusion  was  reached: 

As  has  been  shown,  there  are  about  thirty-two  colored  institutions  doing 
college  work;  but  the  leading  colleges  according  to  the  Carnegie  Foundation 
units,  which  have  a  reasonable  number  of  students  are:  Howard  University, 
Fisk  University,  Atlanta  University,  Wiley  University,  Leland  University, 
Virginia  Union  University,  Clark  University,  Knoxville  College,  Spelman 
Seminary,  Claflin  University,  Atlanta  Baptist  College  (now  Morehouse  Col- 
lege), Lincoln  University,  Talladega  College. 

Mr.  Williams  concludes  his  study  of  twenty-two  Negro  uni- 
versities in  the  South  with  the  following  statements: 

A  few  of  these  universities  or  other  colleges  doing  similar  work  might  be 
taken  and  so  developed  as  to  meet  practically  all  the  needs  of  Negro  youth 
for  many  years.  All  things  considered,  the  best  six  of  these  colored  univer- 
sities are  Howard,  Fisk,  Virginia  Union,  Atlanta,  Shaw  and  Wiley.  These 
schools  have  already  been  of  exceptional  service  in  the  higher  development  of 
the  colored  people.  Each  one  has  built  up  for  itself  a  good  following.  And 
they  are  all  fairly  well  located  as  educational  centers  for  the  ampler  training 
of  the  brighter  Negro  youth  of  the  South. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  forgotten  that,  as  a  study  of  the  facilities  for 
the  higher  education  of  the  Negro  in  the  South,  this  consideration  of  the 
Negro  universities  alone  is  arbitrarily  narrow  and  incomplete.  There  are 
at  least  five  other  institutions  with  less  pretentious  titles  doing  as  advanced 
and  as  effective  work  as  seven-eighths  of  these  universities.  They  are:  Talla- 
dega College,  Talladega,  Ala. ;  Atlanta  Baptist  College  (Morehouse  College) 
Atlanta,  Ga. ;  Knoxville  College,  Knoxville,  Tenn. ;  Benedict  College,  Colum- 
bia, S.  C.;  Bishop  College,  Marshall,  Texas.  And  there  are  at  least  a  dozen 
other  colleges  whose  work  will  not  suffer  in  comparison  with  that  of  more 
than  half  the  universities. 

It  should  be  noted  that  Mr.  Williams'  study  is  confined  to 
Southern  universities  and  therefore  does  not  include  Wilberforce  and 
Lincoln. 

Judging  solely  from  the  number  of  institutions  offering  college 
courses  one  might  conclude  that  higher  education  for  the  Negroes 
was  being  overdone;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  only  a  small  proportion 
of  the  students  enrolled  in  the  institutions  in  question  are  engaged 
in  college  work.  Practically  all  of  the  colleges  have  also  high  school 
departments.  This  is  made  necessary  by  the  failure  of  the  South 


214 


THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 


to  provide  in  the  public  schools  for  the  high  school  education  of  the 
Negroes.  Most  of  the  institutions  also  have  classes  in  the  grades. 
Tables  compiled  by  the  Atlanta  University  study  show  in  the  thirty- 
two  institutions  the  following  enrollment: 

Number  of  students  in  college  classes 1,131 

Number  of  students  in  high  school  classes 3,896 

Number  in  grades 6,845 

Professional 1,602 


Total 13,474 

Of  all  students  of  college  grade  and  below  only  about  9.5  per 
cent  were  enrolled  in  college  classes.  A  similar  study  of  twenty-two 
universities  by  Mr.  Williams  shows  only  about  11  per  cent  enrolled 
in  college  classes. 

Most  of  the  institutions  founded  by  the  church  societies  offer 
theological  courses  though  none  of  them  has  made  the  academic 
requirements  very  rigid.  Mr.  Williams  reports  that  "Shaw,  Virginia 
Union  and  Howard  are  perhaps  doing  more  than  the  others  to  raise 
the  grade  of  their  regular  work  to  that  of  well  recognized  theologi- 
cal schools."  The  Meharry  Medical  School  of  Walden  University 
in  Nashville  enrolled  523  students  this  year.  Two  other  universities 
offer  graduate  courses  in  law  and  medicine  which  qualify  graduates 
to  pass  state  examinations  and  practice  successfully.  Their  enroll- 
ment reported  for  1913  is  as  follows: 


PROFESSIONAL  SCHOOLS 


Theological 

Law 

Medical 

Shaw  University,  Raleigh  
Howard  University,  Wash- 
ington. .  . 

19 
97 

8 
121 

156 
341 

In  the  four  institutions  named  above  there  are  1,295  students 
enrolled  in  the  professional  schools,  representing  the  best  work  of 
this  type  done  by  the  Southern  Negro  universities.  Many  of  the 
brightest  students  of  the  Southern  colleges  have  later  graduated  in 
professional  studies  in  Northern  universities. 

The  value  of  the  higher  education  of  the  Negroes  can  be  best 
determined  by  the  record  of  the  college  graduates.  In  making  the 
Atlanta  University  study,  a  questionnaire  was  sent  out  from  which 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES  215 

answers  were  received  from  eight  hundred  Negro  college  graduates, 
a  number  which  was  estimated  as  covering  about  one-fourth  of  the 
entire  number  of  living  graduates  and  therefore  considered  typical 
of  the  whole  group. 

Of  the  number  reporting  53.8  per  cent  were  engaged  in  teach- 
ing, 20  per  cent  in  preaching,  7  per  cent  in  medicine  and  3.8  per 
cent  in  law;  the  others  were  engaged  in  various  occupations.  It 
appears  that  the  largest  group  is  engaged  in  the  work  for  which 
the  first  colleges  were  founded;  they  have  become  "teachers  for 
those  requiring  to  be  taught."  The  three  professions  claiming  the 
next  largest  numbers  without  question  demand  for  the  best  service 
the  most  liberal  education  possible. 

The  whole  system  of  public  education  in  the  South  from  the 
grammar  school  to  the  state  college  provides  for  the  separate  edu- 
cation of  the  two  races;  and  almost  without  exception  the  Negro 
schools  are  presided  over  and  taught  by  people  of  their  own  race. 
Most  of  the  private  schools  of  the  industrial  type  and  those  doing 
work  of  secondary  grade  are  also  taught  by  Negroes.  It  may  be 
said  without  question  that  such  measure  of  success  as  these  insti- 
tutions have  attained  has  been  largely  due  to  the  teacher  training 
of  the  institutions  of  higher  education. 

From  information  recently  obtained  from  fifteen  of  the  South- 
ern state  normal  and  agricultural  schools  it  appears  that  142  of 
their  347  teachers,  all  of  them  colored,  are  graduates  of  colleges. 
That  is,  41  per  cent,  or  about  two-fifths  of  the  teachers  in  the  state 
schools  for  Negroes  are  college  graduates.  Of  the  186  teachers  and 
instructors  at  Tuskegee  Institute  45,  or  24  per  cent,  are  college  grad- 
uates. On  the  other  hand  there  may  always  be  found  in  the  better 
Negro  colleges  graduates  of  the  industrial  schools  who  have  proved 
themselves  capable  of  further  study.  There  are  now  several  Tuske- 
gee graduates  studying  at  Atlanta  University  and  several  Atlanta 
graduates  teaching  at  Tuskegee.  This  suggests  that  the  two  types 
of  education  are  but  branches  of  the  same  great  work,  the  work  of 
educating  a  race. 

The  question  of  the  relative  importance  of  industrial  and  higher 
education  for  the  Negroes  has  led  to  much  fruitless  discussion.  The 
truth  is  that  both  types  of  training  are  indispensable  for  the  proper 
education  of  the  people;  and  neither  can  fulfil  its  mission  without 
cooperation  with  the  other.  The  advantage  of  such  industrial  train- 
ing as  that  offered  by  Hampton  Institute  is  established  beyond  the 


216  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

shadow  of  a  doubt.  One  of  the  surest  evidences  of  this  is  that  it 
is  no  longer  urged  as  a  peculiar  method  of  dealing  with  Negro  youth, 
but  that  it  has  influenced  and  modified  our  opinions  regarding  the 
whole  question  of  public  school  training  for  the  children  of  America, 
tending  to  emphasize  the  organic,  vital  relationship  between  edu- 
cation and  the  problems  of  every  day  life.  Hampton  has  been  a 
pioneer  in  the  campaign  for  vocational  training  not  of  the  Negroes 
alone  but  of  all  Americans.  As  a  special  type  of  training  adapted 
to  the  Negroes,  it  may  have  had  opponents,  but  as  a  type  of  train- 
ing making  for  efficient  citizenship  and  specially  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  a  multitude  of  American  citizens  it  has  acquired  a  position 
where  its  friends  and  advocates  need  fear  no  opposition.  There 
may  be  those  who  would  allow  vocational  training  to  crowd  aca- 
demic instruction  to  the  wall  but  the  true  followers  of  General  Arm- 
strong are  not  among  them.  And  who  would  argue  that  because 
industrial  education  of  this  sort  is  good  for  white  youth  the  colleges 
of  New  England  should  be  turned  into  industrial  or  technical  schools? 

The  higher  education  of  the  Negroes  is  quite  a  different  ques- 
tion today  from  what  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  Like  any  question 
involving  so  large  a  number  of  citizens  and  containing  so  many 
human  elements,  it  is  a  matter  of  national  rather  than  sectional 
concern;  still  it  must  affect  the  Negroes  and  the  South  more  directly 
than  any  other  part  of  the  nation.  There  are  elements  to  deal  with 
today  which  either  did  not  exist  or  were  practically  ignored  fifty 
years  ago.  At  that  time  we  did  not  ask  the  Negro  if  he  wanted 
higher  education  and  we  did  not  consult  his  former  master  to  know 
whether  it  was  advisable.  Northern  philanthropy  took  the  Negro 
by  the  hand  and  said,  "I  know  that  you  have  the  ability  to  learn," 
and  then  opened  before  him  the  door  of  opportunity. 

There  were  many  who  ridiculed  the  effort,  saying  that  it  was 
foredoomed  to  failure,  and  among  them  were  people  of  the  South 
who  thought  they  understood  the  Negro  race  and  knew  its  limita- 
tions. Today  we  must  work  with  the  Negro  rather  than  for  him. 
How  shall  we  know  what  is  best  for  the  race  without  taking  into 
our  counsels  the  thousands  of  its  college  graduates? 

Another  element  which  must  not  be  ignored  in  any  educational 
effort  for  the  Negroes  is  that  growing  class  of  Southern  white  people 
who  appreciate  the  educational  needs  of  the  colored  people  as  Amer- 
ican citizens  and  who  sympathize  with  their  best  aspirations.  Dr. 
W.  D.  Weatherford,  a  Southerner  and  secretary  of  the  Young  Men's 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES  217 

Christian  Association  has  organized  in  Southern  white  colleges 
classes  for  the  study  of  the  Negro  problem.  In  1912  there  were 
enrolled  in  these  classes  6,000  college  men.  This  study  has  done 
much  to  quicken  the  interest  and  sympathy  of  white  college  students 
in  the  welfare  of  Southern  Negroes. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress 
held  in  Atlanta  last  April  there  was  a  section  devoted  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  Negro  problems.  Dr.  James  H.  Dillard  presided  and 
Dr.  Weatherford  acted  as  secretary.  Addresses  were  made  by  white 
and  colored  delegates  and  both  entered  into  the  open  discussions. 
Some  of  the  addresses  most  sympathetic  to  the  Negroes  and  most 
courageous  in  their  condemnation  of  the  evils  of  race  prejudice  were 
delivered  by  young  professors  in  Southern  white  colleges.  At  the 
last  general  gathering  of  the  congress  a  significant  remark  was  made 
by  a  young  colored  teacher  in  Morehouse  College.  He  said,  in 
substance,  "I  have  been  greatly  encouraged  by  the  attitude  of 
sympathy  and  fairness  taken  by  young  men  of  the  white  race  to- 
ward the  Negroes  in  this  congress.  Nothing  can  better  make  for 
progress  than  the  mutual  understanding  and  cooperation  of  the 
young  college  men  of  both  races."  This  is  certainly  true,  and  the 
college  education  of  both  should  help  make  possible  wise  cooperation. 

And  what  is  the  attitude  of  these  two  elements — the  educated 
Negroes  and  the  educated  Southern  white  people — toward  the  higher 
education  of  the  Negroes?  One  question  asked  of  the  Negro  college 
graduates  in  the  Atlanta  University  investigation  was,  "How  shall 
you  educate  your  children?"  The  report  says,  "By  far  the  greater 
number  of  those  making  reply  are  planning  to  give  their  children 
the  advantages  of  a  college  education,  hoping  thereby  to  properly 
equip  them  for  life's  work,  whether  in  the  trades  or  in  the  profes- 
sions." Typical  answers  are,  "I  believe  in  educating  the  child  to 
make  the  best  citizen;  a  college  education  to  those  who  will  take 
it,"  and,  "It  is  my  intention  to  give  them  the  very  best  education 
that  they  can  assimilate." 

In  answer  to  the  question,  "What  is  your  present  practical 
philosophy  in  regard  to  the  Negro  race  in  America?"  there  were 
many  interesting  answers  upon  which  the  following  comment  is  made : 

A  careful  reading  of  the  above  quotations  from  the  replies  of  the  Negro 
college  graduates  discloses  on  the  whole  a  hopeful  and  encouraging  attitude 
on  the  part  of  these  educated  men  and  women.  Though  hampered  by  preju- 
dice and  its  accompanying  discriminations  as  well  as  by  lack  of  opportunity 


218  THE  ANNALS  OP  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

these  men  and  women  are  for  the  most  part  hopeful  of  the  future  of  the  Negro 
race  in  America. 

Of  this  we  may  be  certain,  every  Negro  who  receives  a  modern 
college  education  worthy  of  the  name  will  be  fully  aware  of  the  dis- 
criminations and  injustices  that  fall  to  his  lot  because  he  is  a  Negro 
and  lives  in  America.  And  it  is  a  question  how  long  he  will  endure 
with  patience  the  disabilities  under  which  he  lives  at  present  on 
this  account.  The  answers  to  the  questionnaire  make  repeated  claim 
to  equality  before  the  law,  full  citizenship  rights  and  privileges,  the 
right  to  vote  and  unrestricted  educational  opportunities.  What  edu- 
cated American  citizen  would  demand  less? 

We  cannot  expect  that  all  Southern  white  people,  even  those 
who  have  received  the  benefits  of  higher  education,  will  sympathize 
with  the  educated  Negroes  or  applaud  their  sentiments  of  inde- 
pendence. But  there  is  a  growing  number  who  will. 

In  1909  the  Rev.  Quincy  Ewing  of  Napoleonville,  La.,  addressed 
to  Dr.  Horace  Bumstead  a  letter  from  which  I  shall  quote  in  con- 
cluding; for  here  we  have  an  expression  of  a  Southern  white  man 
regarding  the  higher  education  of  the  Negro  which  will  remind  us 
strongly  of  the  noble  motives  prompting  the  establishment  of  colleges 
for  the  Negroes  fifty  years  ago. 

You  are  very  right  to  feel  that  the  efforts  you  and  others  are  making  in 
behalf  of  Atlanta  University  have  not  only  my  approval  but  also  my  applause. 
I  could  not  feel  otherwise  except  on  one  of  two  grounds,  viz.,  that  the  higher 
education  is  not  good  for  a  human  being;  or  that  the  Negro  is  not  really  a 
human  being.  If  he  is  a  human  being,  he  has  as  much  right  as  I  to  everything 
that  is  humanly  uplifting,  to  everything  that  makes  for  a  complete  and  exalted 
humanness.  A  denial  of  the  Negro's  essential  humanness  is  involved  in  every 
argument  I  have  ever  heard  against  his  higher  education:  a  denial  equivalent 
to  the  affirmation,  that  the  Negro  should  not  be  what  he  wants  to  be,  not  what 
he  is  capable  of  being,  but  what  other  people,  his  superiors,  find  it  agreeable 
to  themselves  for  him  to  be. 

The  untrammeled  education  of  any  subordinate  race  so  easily  segregated 
as  the  Negroes,  must  be  painfully  uphill  work,  until  the  spirit  of  true  democ- 
racy becomes  dominant  among  us;  or  until  the  mark  of  true  aristocracy  shall 
be  among  us,  scorn  of  the  idea  that  one  man  is  born  to  serve  another  of  a 
different  kind,  and  love  of  the  idea  that  every  man  is  born  to  serve  every 
other  of  every  kind.  If  there  were  only  some  way  to  get  the  majority  of  us 
educated  by  the  spirit  of  what  is  really  democracy,  or  by  the  spirit  of  what 
is  really  aristocracy — only  some  way  of  solving  this  fundamental  problem,  all 
our  other  educational  problems  would  be  the  simplest  things  with  which  we 
have  to  deal! 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  THE  PUBLIC    SCHOOLS 

BY  BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON,  LL.D., 
Principal,  Tuskegee  Institute,  Tuskegee,  Ala. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  Negro  people  of  the  United  States  started 
out  empty  handed,  without  property,  without  education  and  with 
very  little  knowledge  or  experience,  on  a  great  adventure.  Abraham 
Lincoln's  proclamation  of  emancipation  had  given  them  their  free- 
dom, and  the  two  war  amendments  to  the  constitution  had  made 
them  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  given  them  the  ballot.  With 
these  they  started  out  in  the  new  world  so  to  speak  to  seek  their 
fortunes  which  freedom  had  opened  to  them. 

Although  slavery  and  the  Negro  had  been  the  real  issue  between 
the  North  and  the  South  in  the  Civil  War,  when  the  war  was  over 
the  Negro  was  not  without  friends  in  both  sections  of  the  country. 
There  were  numbers  of  people  both  in  the  South  and  in  the  North, 
who  wished  the  Negro  well,  and  were  glad  to  advise  him  and  help 
him  to  make  his  way  under  the  new  conditions  in  which  he  found 
himself. 

The  difficulty  was  that  the  two  sections  of  the  country  held 
diametrically  opposite  notions  as  to  the  best  way  to  proceed.  In 
the  long  controversy  which  followed,  the  bewildered  freedman  was 
like  a  ball  that  is  batted  from  one  side  to  another  by  rival  players 
in  a  game.  The  result  was  that  the  Negro  got  most  of  the  knocks 
and,  in  the  end,  was  thrown  pretty  much  on  his  own  resources  and 
compelled  to  make  his  own  way  as  best  he  could. 

As  was  to  be  expected  under  the  circumstances,  the  Negro,  for 
a  number  of  years,  groped  his  way  along  and  often  strayed  from  the 
direct  path,  but  in  spite  of  all  he  made  progress — great  progress,  in 
fact — when  all  the  circumstances  are  considered. 

It  is  my  purpose,  in  the  article  which  follows,  to  tell  something 
of  the  progress  which  the  Negro  has  made  during  these  years  in  the 
matter  of  education,  and  to  indicate,  so  far  as  I  am  able,  the  direc- 
tion in  which  further  progress  may  be  expected  in  the  future. 

Let  me  say,  to  begin  with,  that  one  of  the  first  and  most  impor- 
tant things  which  emancipation  did  for  the  Negro  and  the  South 

219 


220  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

was  to  bring  into  existence  a  public  school  system.  Previous  to  the 
Civil  War  there  had  been  no  public  school  system  worthy  of  the 
name,  in  the  slave  states,  so  that,  whatever  anyone  may  say  in 
regard  to  the  wisdom  or  lack  of  wisdom  in  giving  the  Negro  the 
ballot,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  it  was  the  Negro  vote  which 
gave  the  white  man  the  public  school. 

Negro  education  began  in  the  South,  however,  several  years 
before  there  were  any  Negro  votes  or  any  public  school  system. 
A  little  army  of  Yankee  school  ma'ms  followed  in  the  wake  of  the 
Northern  armies  and,  wherever  the  federal  forces  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing themselves  on  Southern  soil,  schools  for  the  education  of  the 
freedmen  were  started. 

It  was  in  September,  1861,  that  the  first  school  for  freedmen 
was  started  in  the  South.  This  school,  established  by  the  American 
Missionary  Association,  was  located  at  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia,  and 
it  laid  the  foundation  for  the  Hampton  Institute,  the  first  distinc- 
tively industrial  school,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  be  established  in  the 
United  States  for  either  race. 

After  emancipation  schools  for  the  freedmen  multiplied  through- 
out the  South,  under  the  direction  of  the  freedmen's  bureau,  which 
had  charge  of  the  education  of  the  freedmen  from  1865  to  1870, 
when  its  work  was  discontinued.  Either  under  its  direction,  or  in 
cooperation  with  it,  there  were  established  during  this  short  period 
2,677  schools  with  3,300  teachers  and  149,587  pupils. 

Statistics  give  but  a  poor  conception  of  the  character  of  these 
early  freedmen's  schools.  Most  of  them  were  located  in  abandoned 
buildings  of  some  kind  or  other.  Some  of  them  were  established 
in  old  army  barracks;  others  were  started  in  churches,  and  still 
others  were  held  out  in  the  open,  under  the  shade  of  a  convenient 
tree.  Children  and  old  men  sat  side  by  side  upon  the  rude  benches. 
Those  who  were  not  able  to  go  to  school  in  the  daytime  went  to 
school  at  night,  and  those  who  could  not  find  time  to  go  to  school 
during  the  other  days  in  the  week  crowded  into  the  Sabbath  schools 
on  Sunday. 

Old  blue  back  spellers  were  dug  up  out  of  odd  corners  into 
which  they  had  been  hidden  away  during  slavery  times  and,  with 
these  and  such  other  books  as  they  could  find,  the  whole  race  set 
out  to  master  the  mystery  of  letters.  The  most  pathetic  figures, 
in  all  the  eager  and  excited  throng  which  crowded  into  the  school 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  221 

rooms,  were  the  old  men  and  women  who  hoped  before  they  died 
to  be  able  to  learn  to  read  the  one  book  of  which  they  had  any  knowl- 
edge, namely,  the  Bible. 

The  first  report  of  the  United  States  commissioner  was  pub- 
lished in  1870.  From  the  scattered  and  fragmentary  figures  and 
statements  which  it  offers,  one  is  able  to  gain  some  notion  of  the 
condition  of  the  Negro  schools  at  that  time.  In  Alabama  the  report 
of  the  general  superintendent  of  the  freedmen's  bureau,  which  the 
commissioner  quotes,  indicated  that  there  were  155  schools,  with 
168  teachers  and  11,531  pupils.  At  this  time,  also,  Alabama  had 
49  Negro  Sabbath  schools,  with  244  teachers  and  8,744  pupils.  The 
number  of  pupils  paying  tuition  in  the  day  schools  was  633  and  the 
amount  of  money  collected  from  these  pupils  was  $1,248.95.  By 
1872  conditions  had  much  improved.  At  this  time  there  were  en- 
rolled in  the  colored  schools  of  Alabama  54,334  pupils,  with  an 
average  attendance  of  41,308.  This  was  an  increase  of  25,000  over 
the  previous  year. 

In  1881,  the  year  in  which  the  Tuskegee  Institute  was  started 
in  Macon  County,  Ala.,  the  condition  of  the  schools  throughout  the 
state  was  not  much  better  than  it  had  been  nine  years  before.  There 
were  68,951  pupils  enrolled,  with  an  average  attendance  of  48,476. 
The  average  length  of  the  school  year  in  the  public  schools  was 
seventy-eight  days.  Only  about  one-third  of  the  Negro  children 
of  school  age  were  enrolled  in  the  schools  and  not  more  than  28  per 
cent  were  in  actual  attendance. 

In  South  Carolina  the  Negro  public  schools  in  1870  were  not 
as  far  advanced,  so  far  as  one  can  judge  from  the  reports,  than  they 
were  in  Alabama  at  the  same  period.  The  failure  of  the  general 
assembly  to  pass  a  school  bill  had  left  the  public  schools  without 
funds,  and  the  report  states  that  "the  children  of  the  state  are 
growing  up  in  ignorance."  Reports  from  the  counties  showed  that 
"the  chief  obstacles  to  an  efficient  school  system  are  the  want  of 
funds,  the  indifference  resulting  from  ignorance,  and  a  deep-rooted 
prejudice  on  the  part  of  both  races  to  mixed  schools/'  The  super- 
intendent of  the  freedmen's  schools  furnished  information  of  the 
existence  of  eight  schools  for  Negroes  with  an  enrollment  of  3,500. 
One  of  these  was  a  freedmen's  pay  school  supported  entirely  by 
colored  people. 

Directly  after  the  war  conditions  in  some  of   the    Northern 


222  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

States  were  not  much  better  than  they  were  in  the  South.  In 
Illinois,  for  example,  Negro  children  were  almost  wholly  ignored 
in  the  common  school  legislation,  except  that  a  provision  was  made 
that  the  money  paid  by  Negroes  in  the  form  of  taxes  should  be 
applied  to  Negro  education.  In  practice,  however,  this  was  not 
done.  Still  in  some  of  the  towns  of  the  state  adequate  provision 
was  made  for  the  colored  children.  In  Indiana  Negro  education 
was  not  much  better  provided  for  than  in  Illinois.  The  law  pro- 
vided that  Negro  children  should  be  educated  apart  and,  in  accord- 
ance with  this  law,  the  city  of  Indianapolis  set  aside  two  school 
buildings  for  the  use  of  the  colored  children,  "although,"  the  report 
adds,  "they  have  been  for  several  years  out  of  use  because  of  their 
unfitness." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  city  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  had  at  this  time 
63  schools  for  colored  children  and  in  addition  to  this  an  efficient 
normal  school  with  5  teachers  and  210  pupils.  In  other  parts  of 
the  state,  however,  the  colored  public  schools,  so  far  as  any  indi- 
cations given  in  the  reports  show,  did  not  exist.  The  law  provided 
that  the  money  paid  in  taxes  by  colored  people  should  be  used  for 
the  education  of  the  colored  children.  The  records  show  that  the 
sum  of  $951.27,  collected  from  Negro  tax-payers  in  six  counties, 
had  been  charged  as  paid  out  to  colored  schools,  but  there  was  no 
report  of  any  such  schools  existing. 

The  vague  and  indefinite  character  of  these  reports  suggests 
the  condition  and  the  character  of  the  early  Negro  schools.  This 
was  to  be  expected.  The  Civil  War  had  brought  financial  ruin  to 
the  Southern  States;  there  was  neither  money  nor  means  to  build 
school  houses  and  maintain  schools.  In  some  respects,  in  spite  of 
their  poverty  and  their  ignorance,  the  freedmen  were  in  a  better 
situation  than  their  former  masters.  They  had,  at  least,  the  physical 
strength  and  training  for  rough  work  of  the  fields  and  it  was  this 
kind  of  labor  that  was  necessary  to  make  a  beginning. 

Besides  all  else  the  country  was  torn  and  distracted  with  politi- 
cal controversies,  and  public  sentiment  was  indifferent  when  it  was 
not  hostile  to  Negro  education.  All  of  these  facts  should  be  con- 
sidered when  an  attempt  is  made  to  estimate  the  progress  of  Negro 
education  during  these  early  years  and  since. 

Notwithstanding  these  difficulties  Negro  education  has  made 
progress  from  the  first.  In  1877,  when  the  first  general  summary 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  223 

of  the  statistics  of  education  in  the  Southern  States  was  made,  it 
appeared  that  there  were  571,506  colored  children  and  1,827,139 
white  children  enrolled  in  the  public  schools  of  the  sixteen  former 
slave  states  and  the  District  of  Columbia.  By  1909  the  number 
of  children  enrolled  in  the  colored  schools  had  increased  to  1,712,137. 
This  was,  however,  but  56.34  per  cent  of  the  total  colored  school 
population. 

Meanwhile  the  illiteracy  of  the  Negro  in  the  Southern  States 
has  been  reduced  from  something  like  95  per  cent  of  the  whole 
population,  at  the  beginning  of  freedom,  to  33.3  per  cent  in  1910. 
In  the  United  States  as  a  whole  the  number  of  Negroes  who  could 
neither  read  nor  write  was  at  this  tune  30.4  per  cent  of  the  whole 
Negro  population. 

A  further  evidence  of  the  progress  which  Negro  education  had 
made  in  forty-seven  years  is  the  number  of  high  schools  maintained 
for  Negroes  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Not  all  of  these, 
however,  were  located  in  the  Southern  States.  Of  the  141  colored 
high  schools  supported  by  states  and  municipalities,  reported  by 
the  commissioner  of  education  in  1910,  there  were  4  in  Alabama, 
6  in  Arkansas,  1  in  Delaware,  1  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  6  in 
Florida,  11  in  Georgia,  7  in  Kentucky,  8  in  Mississippi,  1  in  Mary- 
land, 21  in  Missouri,  3  in  Oklahoma,  4  in  South  Carolina,  7  in 
Tennessee,  36  in  Texas,  5  in  Virginia,  5  in  West  Virginia.  Besides 
these  there  were  high  schools  for  Negroes  in  other  states:  Illinois  4, 
Indiana  6,  Kansas  1,  Ohio  2,  Pennsylvania  1. 

Although  the  statistics  indicate  that  Negro  illiteracy  has  been 
steadily  reduced  until  at  the  present  time  more  than  two-thirds  of 
the  whole  Negro  population  is  able  both  to  read  and  write,  this 
much  could  not  have  been  accomplished  unless  the  work  of  the 
public  schools  had  been  supplemented  by  that  of  other  schools  main- 
tained by  private  philanthropy. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that,  of  the  34,000  Negro  teachers  now  carry- 
ing on  the  work  of  the  public  schools  in  the  South,  the  majority, 
if  not  all,  of  these  who  have  obtained  anything  like  an  adequate 
training  for  their  work,  have  been  educated  in  schools  that  have 
been  maintained,  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  private  philanthropy.  The 
number  of  these  schools  has  grown  steadily  with  the  growth  of  the 
public  schools  and  especially  in  recent  years  there  have  sprung  up 
a  multitude  of  smaller  academies  and  so-called  colleges,  supported 


224  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

to  a  very  large  extent  by  the  colored  people  themselves,  which  have 
supplemented  and  to  some  extent  extended  the  work  of  the  public 
schools. 

As  near  as  I  am  able  to  determine  there  are  not  fewer  than  600 
schools  of  various  kinds,  colleges,  academies,  industrial  and  pro- 
fessional schools,  supported  for  the  most  part  by  private  philanthropy 
in  different  Southern  and  Northern  States.  About  400  of  these,  I 
should  say,  are  small  schools  which  are  doing  the  work  of  the  public 
schools  in  the  primary  grades. 

Of  these  smaller  schools  there  are  at  present  no  statistics  avail- 
able to  indicate  the  character  and  extent  of  the  work  they  are  doing. 
Of  the  189  larger  and  more  advanced  schools  of  which  there  is  record, 
the  statistics  show  that  they  have  2,941  teachers  and  57,915  pupils. 
Of  the  pupils  in  these  schools,  which  include  practically  all  of  the 
institutions  doing  secondary  college  work,  19,654  are  in  the  second- 
ary grades;  3,214  are  collegiate  students,  and  32,967  are  in  the 
elementary  grades.  In  addition  to  these  2,080  are  pursuing  profes- 
sional studies  and  29,954  are  getting  industrial  training  of  some 
sort  or  other. 

Although  the  number  of  schools  calling  themselves  colleges  is 
relatively  large  the  vast  majority  of  their  students  are  in  the  ele- 
mentary or  secondary  grades.  For  example,  in  the  189  schools 
referred  to  in  the  foregoing  paragraph,  nearly  60  per  cent  are  in  the 
elementary  grades  and  only  5.5  per  cent  are  pursuing  collegiate 
studies.  In  fact,  up  to  1910  a  careful  study  of  the  Negro  college 
graduates  indicates  that  altogether,  from  1820  to  1909,  the  number 
of  Negroes  who  had  completed  a  course  of  study  in  a  college  or  a 
University  was  not  more  than  3,856  and  of  this  number  about  700 
had  graduated  from  Northern  schools. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  since  1870  the  sixteen  former  slave 
states  have  contributed  about  $1,200,000,000  to  the  support  of  their 
public  schools.  Of  this  amount  $160,000,000  went  to  the  support 
of  the  Negro  schools. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  determine  with  any  accuracy  the  amount 
which  has  been  contributed  since  emancipation  to  Negro  education 
by  religious  and  philanthropic  agencies.  As  near  as  can  be  esti- 
mated it  has  amounted  to  about  $50,000,000.  To  this  should  be 
added  about  $20,000,000  more  which  has  been  contributed  by  Negroes 
through  their  churches  and  other  organizations. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  225 

The  progress  of  Negro  education  has  undoubtedly  been  more 
rapid  during  the  past  ten  years  than  during  any  previous  similar 
period.  Not  only  have  several  Southern  cities  built  and  equipped 
first  class  high  schools  for  the  benefit  of  their  colored  populations, 
but  there  has  also  been  a  marked  advance,  particularly  in  recent 
years,  in  the  character  of  the  colored  rural  schools  in  many  parts 
of  the  country.  This  has  been  due  to  the  work  of  the  Anna  T. 
Jeanes  Fund  in  cooperation  with  the  county  superintendents,  the 
rural  industrial  schools  and  the  colored  people  themselves,  in  the 
communities  in  which  these  schools  are  located. 

A  number  of  cities  in  the  South,  notably  Louisville,  Ky.,  have 
done  much  to  put  Negro  education  on  a  sound  basis  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  branch  libraries  for  the  use  of  their  colored  populations. 
Until  very  recently  there  have  been  few  places  in  the  South  where 
Negroes  have  had  access  to  any  large  collection  of  books.  Even 
the  Negro  colleges  have  been  able  to  provide  few  if  any  modern 
books  for  the  use  of  their  students.  Recently  several  of  the  larger 
schools,  through  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie,  erected 
handsome  and  commodious  library  buildings  and  are  now  gradually 
accumulating  the  books  necessary  for  serviceable  working  and 
reference  libraries. 

The  total  annual  expenditures  for  Negro  education  at  the  pres- 
ent time  indicate  to  some  extent  the  efficiency  of  Negro  education, 
although  Rural  School  Supervisor  Tate,  of  South  Carolina,  says  that, 
after  a  careful  study  of  the  conditions  of  the  rural  schools  he  has 
reached  the  conclusion  that  a  large  part  of  the  money  expended  by 
South  Carolina  is  wasted. 

He  says  in  his  report  for  1911  and  1912:  "During  the  year  I 
have  visited  many  schools  in  which  three  hours  of  demonstration 
work  and  practical  suggestion  would  double  the  efficiency  of  an 
earnest  but  inexperienced  teacher.  The  education  of  the  Negro  in 
South  Carolina,"  he  adds,  "is  in  the  hands  of  the  white  race.  The 
white  trustees  apportion  the  funds,  select  the  teachers  and  receive 
the  reports.  The  county  superintendent  has  the  supervision  of  these 
schools  in  his  hands.  We  have  expended  this  year  $349,834.60  in 
the  support  of  the  Negro  schools.  I  have  never  visited  one  of  these 
schools  without  feeling  that  we  were  wasting  a  large  part  of  this 
money  and  neglecting  a  great  opportunity." 

The  total  expenditures  for  Negro  schools  in  the  United  States 


226  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

in  1911  and  1912  amounted  to  $13,061,700.  Of  this  amount  the 
sum  of  $8,645,846  was  contributed  to  the  support  of  the  public 
schools  by  the  sixteen  former  slave  states,  the  District  of  Columbia 
and  Oklahoma.  The  total  amount  expended  by  states  and  munici- 
palities for  secondary  and  higher  education  was  $758,972.  To  this 
sum  should  be  added  $299,267,  contributed  by  the  federal  govern- 
ment and  $3,359,615  from  other  sources,  making  the  total  expendi- 
tures for  the  secondary  and  higher  education  of  the  Negro  in  the 
United  States  as  a  whole,  $4,415,854.  Negroes  represent  11  per 
cent  of  the  population  and  receive  about  2  per  cent  of  the  school 
funds  for  their  education. 

I  have  tried,  in  what  I  have  written  thus  far,  to  indicate,  so 
far  as  it  is  possible  to  do  so  by  means  of  statistics  and  formal  state- 
ments, the  progress  which  the  Negro  has  made  in  education  during 
the  fifty  years  of  freedom.  There  have,  however,  been  so  much  change 
and  progress  in  Negro  education  that  no  statistics,  which  merely 
show  for  schools  or  the  proportion  of  children  in  the  schools,  can 
give  any  adequate  account. 

If  I  were  asked  what  I  believe  to  be  the  greatest  advance  which 
Negro  education  has  made  since  emancipation  I  should  say  that  it 
had  been  in  two  directions:  first,  the  change  which  has  taken  place, 
among  the  masses  of  the  Negro  people,  as  to  what  education  really 
is  and,  second,  the  change  that  has  taken  place,  among  the  masses 
of  the  white  people,  in  the  South,  toward  Negro  education  itself. 

I  can  perhaps  make  clear  what  I  mean  by  a  little  explanation. 
The  Negro  learned  in  slavery  to  work  but  he  did  not  learn  to  respect 
labor.  On  the  contrary,  the  Negro  was  constantly  taught,  directly 
and  indirectly  during  slavery  times,  that  labor  was  a  curse.  It  was 
the  curse  of  Canaan,  he  was  told,  that  condemned  the  black  man 
to  be  for  all  time  the  slave  and  servant  of  the  white  man.  It  was 
the  curse  of  Canaan  that  made  him  for  all  time  "a  hewer  of  wood 
and  drawer  of  water."  The  consequence  of  this  teaching  was  that, 
when  emancipation  came,  the  Negro  thought  freedom  must,  in  some 
way,  mean  freedom  from  labor. 

The  Negro  had  also  gained  in  slavery  some  general  notions  in 
regard  to  education.  He  observed  that  the  people  who  had  educa- 
tion for  the  most  part  belonged  to  the  aristocracy,  to  the  master 
class,  while  the  people  who  had  little  or  no  education  were  usually 
of  the  class  known  as  "poor  whites."  In  this  way  education  became 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  227 

associated,  in  his  mind,  with  leisure,  with  luxury,  and  freedom  from 
the  drudgery  of  work  with  the  hands. 

Another  thing  that  the  Negro  learned  in  slavery  about  educa- 
tion was  that  it  was  something  that  was  denied  to  the  man  who 
was  a  slave.  Naturally,  as  soon  as  freedom  came,  he  was  in  a  great 
hurry  to  get  education  as  soon  as  possible.  He  wanted  education 
more  than  he  wanted  land  or  property  or  anything  else,  except, 
perhaps,  public  office.  Although  the  Negro  had  no  very  definite 
notion  in  regard  to  education,  he  was  pretty  sure  that,  whatever 
else  it  might  be,  it  had  nothing  to  do  with  work,  especially  work 
with  the  hands. 

In  order  to  make  it  possible  to  put  Negro  education  on  a  sound 
and  rational  basis,  it  has  been  necessary  to  change  the  opinion  of 
the  masses  of  the  Negro  people  hi  regard  to  education  and  labor. 
It  has  been  necessary  to  make  them  see  that  education  which  did 
not,  directly  or  indirectly,  connect  itself  with  the  practical  daily 
interests  of  daily  life  could  hardly  be  called  education.  It  has  been 
necessary  to  make  the  masses  of  the  Negroes  see  and  realize  the 
necessity  and  importance  of  applying  what  they  learned  in  school 
to  the  common  and  ordinary  things  of  life;  to  see  that  education, 
far  from  being  a  means  of  escaping  labor,  is  a  means  of  raising  up 
and  dignifying  labor  and  thus,  indirectly  a  means  of  raising  up  and 
dignifying  the  common  and  ordinary  man.  It  has  been  necessary 
to  teach  the  masses  of  the  people  that  the  way  to  build  up  a  race  is 
to  begin  at  the  bottom  and  not  at  the  top,  to  lift  the  man  furthest 
down,  and  thus  raise  the  whole  structure  of  society  above  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been  necessary  to  demonstrate  to 
the  white  man  in  the  South  that  education  does  not  "spoil"  the 
Negro,  as  it  had  been  so  often  predicted  that  it  would.  It  was 
necessary  to  make  him  actually  see  that  education  makes  the  Negro 
not  an  idler  or  spendthrift,  but  a  more  industrious  thrifty,  law- 
abiding  and  useful  citizen  than  he  otherwise  would  be. 

As  there  never  was  any  hope  of  educating  the  great  mass  of 
the  Negroes  in  the  South  outside  of  the  public  schools,  so  there  was 
no  hope  of  a  thoroughly  efficient  school  system  until  the  Southern 
white  man  was  convinced  that  Negro  education  was  of  some  real 
value,  not  only  to  the  Negro  himself,  but  also  to  the  community. 

The  task  of  changing  the  popular  opinion  of  both  races  in  the 
South  in  regard  to  the  value  and  meaning  of  Negro  education,  has 


228  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

fallen  very  largely  to  the  industrial  schools.  The  first  great  task 
of  these  schools  has  been  to  teach  the  masses  of  the  Negro  people 
that  every  form  of  labor  is  honorable  and  that  every  form  of  idleness 
is  disgraceful.  The  second  great  task  has  been  to  prove  to  the 
masses  of  the  Southern  people,  by  actual  living  examples,  that  money 
invested  in  Negro  education  pays,  when  that  education  is  real  and 
not  a  sham. 

As  far  as  the  masses  of  the  Negro  people  are  concerned,  this 
task  is  pretty  nearly  completed.  There  was  a  time  at  Tuskegee 
when  parents  objected  to  their  children  doing  work  with  the  hands 
in  connection  with  their  school  work.  They  said  they  wanted  their 
children  to  study  books,  and  the  more  books  and  the  bigger  the 
books,  the  better  they  were  satisfied.  At  the  present  time  at  Tuske- 
gee, the  work  in  the  shops  and  on  the  farm  is  just  as  interesting, 
just  as  much  sought  after  by  pupils,  as  work  in  the  class  room.  So 
great  has  been  the  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  masses  of  the  people 
in  this  regard  that  a  school  which  does  not  advertise  some  sort  of 
industrial  training  finds  it  difficult  to  get  students.  At  the  present 
time  almost  every  Negro  school  teaches  some  sort  of  industry  and 
the  number  of  schools  which  advertise  themselves  as  industrial  insti- 
tutes is  constantly  increasing.  There  are,  for  example,  not  fewer 
than  four  hundred  little  schools  in  the  South  today  which  call  them- 
selves industrial  schools,  although,  in  many  instances,  these  schools 
are  doing  little,  if  anything  more,  in  the  direction  of  industrial 
training  than  the  public  schools. 

But  if  there  has  been  a  change  in  the  opinion  of  the  masses  of 
the  colored  people  in  regard  to  education,  there  has  been  an  equally 
great  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  Southern  white  people  in  regard 
to  the  education  of  the  Negro. 

There  never  was  a  time  when  the  thoughtful,  sober  people  in 
the  South  did  not  perceive  the  necessity  of  educating  the  Negro, 
not  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  Negro  himself,  but  for  the  sake  of 
the  South.  Some  of  the  strongest  and  wisest  friends  of  Negro  edu- 
cation have  been  men  who  were  born  or  lived  in  the  South.  The 
Hon.  William  H.  Rufner,  who  inaugurated  the  first  public  school 
system  in  Virginia  and  was  state  superintendent  of  education  in 
that  state  from  1870  to  1882,  made  a  strong  and  statesmanlike  plea 
for  the  education  of  all  the  people,  black  and  white,  in  his  first 
annual  report.  From  that  day  to  this  there  have  always  been  wise 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  229 

and  courageous  men  in  the  South  who  were  ready  at  all  times  to  go 
out  of  their  way  to  urge  the  necessity  of  giving  the  Negro  equal 
opportunities  with  the  white  man,  not  only  for  education  but  also 
for  advancement  in  every  other  direction. 

On  the  other  hand  it  can  not  be  denied  that  the  mass  of  Southern 
white  people  have  been  until  recent  years,  either  positively  hostile 
or  else  indifferent  toward  Negro  education. 

No  one  who  studied  the  trend  of  opinion  in  the  South  can  fail 
to  realize  that  there  has  been  a  great  change  in  the  attitude  of  the 
white  people  of  the  South  in  regard  to  the  education  of  the  Negro 
within,  say,  the  last  five  years.  There  is  every  evidence,  at  the 
present  time,  that  the  Southern  people  have  determined  to  take  up 
in  a  serious  way  the  education  of  the  Negro,  and  the  black  man  is 
to  have  better  opportunities,  not  only  in  the  matter  of  education, 
but  also  in  every  other  direction. 

One  indication  of  this  changed  attitude  is  the  fact  that  all 
through  the  South  state  and  county  superintendents  are  beginning 
to  take  a  more  real  and  active  interest  in  the  progress  of  the  Negro 
schools.  Five  Southern  States  have  already  appointed  assistant  state 
superintendents  of  schools  whose  sole  duty  will  be  to  look  after  the 
interest  of  the  Negro  schools.  In  many  instances  Negro  supervisors 
have  been  appointed  to  assist  the  county  superintendents  in  the 
work  of  improving  the  Negro  schools.  Usually  these  Negro  super- 
visors have  been  supported,  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  funds  furnished 
by  the  Anna  T.  Jeanes  Fund  for  the  improvement  of  the  colored 
rural  schools. 

As  an  indication  of  the  interest  which  this  work  among  the 
colored  rural  schools  has  aroused,  I  can  not  do  better  than  quote 
from  a  recent  letter  written  by  County  Superintendent  Oliver,  of 
Tallapoosa  County,  Ala.,  and  published  in  the  Alabama  Progressive 
School  Journal,  at  Birmingham,  Ala.  Superintendent  Oliver  says: 

Perhaps  no  one  thing  has  claimed  the  attention  of  our  educators  of  late 
that  means  more  for  our  rural  schools  than  efficient  school  supervision.  If 
anything  more  was  needed  to  convince  me  of  its  supreme  importance  I  have 
but  to  call  to  mind  what  it  has  done  for  our  colored  schools  in  Tallapoosa 
County  during  the  present  scholastic  year. 

Learning  that  Dr.  J.  H.  Dillard,  of  New  Orleans,  was  president  of  the  Negro 
Rural  School  Fund,  founded  by  Anna  T.  Jeanes,  I  opened  correspondence  with 
him,  resulting  in  securing  Prof.  Thomas  J.  Edwards  for  this  purpose,  hia 
expenses  being;  defrayed  by  this  Fund. 


230  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

On  November  1,  1911,  Edwards  reported  to  me  for  work.  After  mapping 
out  his  line  of  work,  Edwards  commenced  visiting  the  colored  schools  in  the 
country,  making  weekly  reports  to  me,  and  getting  further  directions  for  each 
ensuing  week.  He  commenced  at  once  to  organize  in  each  colored  school 
visited  a  school  improvement  association,  cooperative  corn  and  cotton  clubs, 
where  school  children  and  patrons  cultivate  the  grounds,  taking  lessons  in 
agriculture  at  the  same  time,  and  agreeing  that  the  proceeds  arising  there- 
from should  enure  to  the  benefit  of  the  school  in  equipping  the  same  and 
extending  the  school  term,  introducing  manual  training,  both  for  boys  and 
girls. 

Edwards  kept  me  fully  posted  as  to  his  work,  and  it  is  simply  wonderful 
how  much  has  been  accomplished  in  a  short  time. 

I  have  visited  several  of  his  schools  in  person  and  the  improvement  is 
most  striking.  The  school  yards  have  been  cleared  and  planted  in  trees  and 
flowers;  corn  clubs  have  been  organized  and  work  done  on  the  little  farms, 
and  manual  art  and  domestic  science  introduced  into  most  of  these  schools, 
where  wood  work,  raffia  and  straw  basket  making  and  sewing  are  being  learned 
by  the  children,  who  seem  cheerful,  industrious  and  making  progress,  while 
this  work  does  not  seem  to  decrease  their  interest  in  their  books. 

About  two  months  ago  an  exhibition  of  work  done  in  these  schools  was 
given  in  the  colored  Baptist  church  in  Dadeville,  and  it  was  a  revelation  and 
a  surprise  to  all  attending.  The  several  schools  vied  with  each  other.  In 
the  exhibits  could  be  seen  axe  handles,  shuck  foot-mats,  etc.,  executed  by  the 
boys,  who  told  of  what  they  were  doing  on  the  school  farms;  while  girls  showed 
baskets  and  hats  of  all  sizes  and  shapes  wrought  from  raffia,  straw  and  shucks, 
as  well  as  all  kinds  of  needle  work,  from  the  coarsest  fabrics  to  the  finest  hand 
work  in  center  pieces. 

This  general  interest  brought  about  by  social  contact  and  community 
cooperation  has  resulted  in  lengthening  school  terms  from  two  to  three  months 
and  the  organization  and  establishment  of  the  Tallapoosa  County  Colored 
Fair,  to  be  held  in  New  Adka  community,  in  this  county,  on  November  14-15, 
1912.  An  extensive  premium  list  has  already  been  printed  and  circulated, 
offering  premiums  to  successful  contestants  where  the  purpose  is  to  encourage 
th«  manual  arts  in  schools  and  increase  agricultural  production  by  colored 
farmers. 

I  have  quoted  this  letter  of  Superintendent  Oliver  at  some 
length  for  two  reasons:  first  because  it  gives  a  succinct  description 
of  the  manner  in  which  industrial  education  is  now  being  introduced 
through  the  agency  of  the  Jeanes  Fund,  into  colored  schools  in 
many  parts  of  the  South  and,  second,  because  it  illustrates,  better 
than  any  words  that  I  am  able  to  write,  the  sort  of  interest  and 
enthusiasm  which  the  effort  to  improve  the  public  schools  in  modern 
and  practical  ways  has  created  among  the  members  of  both  races 
in  the  South. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  231 

I  ought  to  add  that  Mr.  T.  J.  Edwards,  the  supervising  teacher 
mentioned  in  this  letter,  is  a  graduate  of  Hampton  Institute  and 
was  employed  for  several  years  at  Tuskegee  Institute,  where  he  did 
a  similar  work  in  the  county  immediately  around  that  school. 

What  makes  this  letter  interesting  from  another  point  of  view 
is  that  it  is  written  by  a  man  who  is  dealing  at  first  hand  with  Negro 
education  in  the  county  of  which  he  is  superintendent.  The  inter- 
est which  Mr.  Oliver  has  expressed  in  the  work  of  the  Negro  schools 
is,  for  that  reason,  representative  of  the  sentiment  of  the  average 
intelligent  citizen  of  the  county  and  illustrates  the  new  interest  of 
the  average  intelligent  and  public  spirited  white  man  in  the  South 
on  the  subject  of  Negro  education.  I  mention  this  fact  because 
it  is  the  opinion  of  the  average  white  man  that  is  going  to  determine, 
in  the  long  run,  the  extent  to  which  the  Negro  school  is  going  to 
secure  the  consideration  and  support  of  the  state  and  the  commu- 
nity in  the  work  which  it  is  trying  to  do. 

What,  you  may  ask,  has  brought  about  this  change  of  senti- 
ment of  the  average  white  man  toward  the  colored  school? 

One  thing  that  has  done  as  much  as  anything  else  to  bring 
about  the  change  has  been  the  demonstration  farming  movement. 
Demonstration  farming  has  taught  the  average  farmer  the  impor- 
tance of  applying  science  and  skill  to  the  work  of  the  farm  and  he 
has  argued  that,  what  this  sort  of  education  has  done  for  the  white 
farmer  it  will  also  do  for  the  colored  farmer.  He  has  foreseen,  also, 
that  the  education  which  makes  the  Negro  a  better  farmer  will 
make  the  South  a  richer  community.  That  is  one  reason  that  the 
average  Southern  white  man  has  come  to  take  an  interest  in  Negro 
education. 

Another  thing  that  has  helped  to  bring  about  this  change  is 
that  the  Southern  white  man  has  seen  for  himself  the  effects  of 
Negro  education  upon  the  Negro. 

There  is  no  way  in  which  industrial  schools,  like  Hampton  and 
Tuskegee,  have  done  more  to  change  the  sentiment  of  both  races 
in  regard  to  education  and  so  prepare  the  way  for  the  building  up  of 
a  real  and  efficient  system  of  Negro  education  in  the  South  than  in 
the  character  of  the  graduates  that  have  gone  out  from  these  schools 
and  from  others,  to  work  in  the  rural  communities  as  teachers  and 
leaders,  and  to  illustrate  in  their  own  lives  the  practical  value  of 
the  education  they  have  obtained. 


232  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

In  referring  in  this  way  to  the  manner  in  which  the  industrial 
schools  have  helped  to  change  sentiment  and  create  sympathy  for 
Negro  education  among  the  masses  of  the  white  people  in  the  South 
I  do  not  intend  to  say  that  the  graduates  of  other  institutions,  with 
different  aims,  have  not  done  their  part.  I  merely  intend  to  empha- 
size the  fact  that  the  industrial  schools  have  made  it  part  of  their  pro- 
gram to  connect  the  work  in  the  schools  with  the  practical  interests 
of  the  people  about  them,  and  that  they  have  everywhere  sought 
to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  function  of  the  school  is  not  merely 
to  teach  a  certain  number  of  class  room  studies  to  a  certain  number 
of  students,  but  to  use  the  school  as  a  means  for  building  up  and 
improving  the  moral  and  material  life  of  the  communities  in  which 
these  schools  are  located. 

In  conclusion  let  me  add  that,  although  much  has  been  accom- 
plished in  the  past,  much  still  remains  to  be  done.  We  have  not 
yet  obtained  in  the  South  anything  like  the  results  we  can  and 
should  obtain  under  a  thoroughly  efficient  system  of  public  schools. 

Not  since  the  Christian  missionaries  set  out  from  Rome  to 
Christianize  and  civilize  the  people  of  western  Europe,  I  am  almost 
tempted  to  say,  has  there  ever  been  a  social  experiment  undertaken 
on  so  large  a  scale  as  that  which  was  begun  fifty  years  ago  with 
the  founding  of  the  first  Negro  school  in  the  South.  As  yet  that 
experiment  is  but  half  completed.  No  one  can  yet  say  what  Negro 
education  can  accomplish  for  the  Negro  and  the  South  because 
Negro  education  has  never  been  thoroughly  tried. 

At  last,  however,  it  seems  as  if  the  time  had  come  when  white 
people  and  colored  people,  North  and  South,  might  come  together 
in  order  to  take  up  really  and  seriously  the  work  which  was  begun 
with  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  If  this  is  true,  then,  this  fact 
indicates  better  than  any  statistics  can  possibly  do,  the  progress 
which  Negro  education  has  made  in  fifty  years. 


THE  NEGRO  IN  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

W.  E.  BURGHARDT  DuBois,  Ph.D., 
Editor,  The  Crisis,  New  York 

The  Negro  is  primarily  an  artist.  The  usual  way  of  putting 
this  is  to  speak  disdainfully  of  his  sensuous  nature.  This  means 
that  the  only  race  which  has  held  at  bay  the  life  destroying  forces 
of  the  tropics,  has  gained  therefrom  in  some  slight  compensation  a 
sense  of  beauty,  particularly  for  sound  and  color,  which  character- 
izes the  race.  The  Negro  blood  which  flowed  in  the  veins  of  many 
of  the  mightiest  of  the  Pharaohs  accounts  for  much  of  Egyptian  art, 
and  indeed,  Egyptian  civilization  owes  much  in  its  origins  to  the 
development  of  the  large  strain  of  Negro  blood  which  manifested 
itself  in  every  grade  of  Egyptian  society. 

Semitic  civilization  also  had  its  Negroid  influences,  and  these 
continually  turn  toward  art  as  in  the  case  of  Nosseyeb,  one  of  the 
five  great  poets  of  Damascus  under  the  Ommiades.  It  was  there- 
fore not  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  modern  days  one  of  the  greatest 
of  modern  literatures,  the  Russian,  should  have  been  founded  by 
Pushkin,  the  grandson  of  a  full  blooded  Negro,  and  that  among  the 
painters  of  Spain  was  the  mulatto  slave,  Gomez.  Back  of  all  this 
development  by  way  of  contact,  comes  the  artistic  sense  of  the  in- 
digeneous  Negro  as  shown  in  the  stone  figures  of  Sherbro,  the  bronzes 
of  Benin,  the  marvelous  handwork  in  iron  and  other  metals  which 
has  characterized  the  Negro  race  so  long  that  archeologists  today, 
with  less  and  less  hesitation,  are  ascribing  the  discovery  of  the  weld- 
ing of  iron  to  the  Negro  race. 

To  America,  the  Negro  could  bring  only  his  music,  but  that 
was  quite  enough.  The  only  real  American  music  is  that  of  the 
Negro  American,  except  the  meagre  contribution  of  the  Indian.  Negro 
music  divides  itself  into  many  parts:  the  older  African  wails  and 
chants,  the  distinctively  Afro-American  folk  song  set  to  religious 
words  and  Calvinistic  symbolism,  and  the  newer  music  which  the 
slaves  adapted  from  surrounding  themes.  To  this  may  be  added  the 
American  music  built  on  Negro  themes  such  as  "Suwanee  River," 

233 


234  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

"John  Brown's  Body,"  "Old  Black  Joe,"  etc.  In  our  day  Negro 
artists  like  Johnson  and  Will  Marian  Cook  have  taken  up  this  music 
and  begun  a  newer  and  most  important  development,  using  the  syn- 
copated measure  popularly  known  as  "rag  time,"  but  destined  in  the 
minds  of  musical  students  to  a  great  career  in  the  future. 

The  expression  in  words  of  the  tragic  experiences  of  the  Negro 
race  is  to  be  found  in  various  places.  First,  of  course,  there  are  those, 
like  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  who  wrote  from  without  the  race.  Then 
there  are  black  men  like  Es-Sadi  who  wrote  the  Epic  of  the  Sudan,  in 
Arabic,  that  great  history  of  the  fall  of  the  greatest  of  Negro  empires, 
the  Songhay.  In  America  the  literary  expression  of  Negroes  has 
had  a  regular  development.  As  early  as  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
even  before  the  Revolutionary  War  the  first  voices  of  Negro  authors 
were  heard  in  the  United  States. 

Phyllis  Wheatley,  the  black  poetess,  was  easily  the  pioneer,  her 
first  poems  appearing  in  1773,  and  other  editions  in  1774  and  1793.  Her 
earliest  poem  was  in  memory  of  George  Whitefield.  She  was  followed 
by  the  Negro,  Olaudah  Equiano — known  by  his  English  name  of 
Gustavus  Vassa — whose  autobiography  of  350  pages,  published  in 
1787,  was  the  beginning  of  that  long  series  of  personal  appeals  of 
which  Booker  T.  Washington's  Up  from  Slavery  is  the  latest.  Ben- 
jamin Banneker's  almanacs  represented  the  first  scientific  work  of 
American  Negroes,  and  began  to  be  issued  in  1792. 

Coming  now  to  the  first  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  we  find 
some  essays  on  freedom  by  the  African  Society  of  Boston,  and  an 
apology  for  the  new  Negro  church  formed  in  Philadelphia.  Paul 
Cuffe,  disgusted  with  America,  wrote  an  early  account  of  Sierra  Leone, 
while  the  celebrated  Lemuel  Haynes,  ignoring  the  race  question, 
dipped  deeply  into  the  New  England  theological  controversy  about 
1815.  In  1829  came  the  first  full-voiced,  almost  hysterical,  protest 
against  slavery  and  the  color  line  in  David  Walker's  Appeal  which 
aroused  Southern  legislatures  to  action.  This  was  followed  by  the 
earliest  Negro  conventions  which  issued  interesting  minutes,  and  a 
strong  appeal  against  disfranchisement  in  Pennsylvania. 

In  1840  some  strong  writers  began  to  appear.  Henry  Highland 
Garnet  and  J.  W.  C.  Pennington  preached  powerful  sermons  and  gave 
some  attention  to  Negro  history  in  their  pamphlets;  R.  B.  Lewis 
made  a  more  elaborate  attempt  at  Negro  historj'.  Whitfield's  poems 
appeared  in  1846,  and  William  Wells  Brown  began  a  career  of  writ- 


LITERATURE  AND  ART  235 

ing  which  lasted  from  1847  until  after  the  war.  In  1845  Douglass' 
autobiography  made  its  first  appearance,  destined  to  run  through 
endless  editions  up  until  the  last  in  1893.  Moreover  it  was  in  1841 
that  the  first  Negro  magazine  appeared  in  America,  edited  by  George 
Hogarth  and  published  by  the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 

In  the  fifties  William  Wells  Brown  published  his  Three  Years  in 
Europe;  James  Whitfield  published  further  poems,  and  a  new  poet 
arose  in  the  person  of  Frances  E.  W.  Harper,  a  woman  of  no  little 
ability  who  died  lately;  Martin  R.  Delaney  and  William  Nell  wrote 
further  of  Negro  history,  Nell  especially  making  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  the  history  of  the  Negro  soldiers.  Three  interesting  biog- 
raphies were  added  to  this  decade  to  the  growing  number:  Josiah 
Henson,  Samuel  G.  Ward  and  Samual  Northrop;  while  Catto,  leaving 
general  history,  came  down  to  the  better  known  history  of  the  Negro 
church. 

In  the  sixties  slave  narratives  multiplied,  like  that  of  Linda 
Brent,  while  two  studies  of  Africa  based  on  actual  visits  were  made 
by  Robert  Campbell  and  Dr.  Alexander  Crummell;  William  Douglass 
and  Bishop  Daniel  Payne  continued  the  history  of  the  Negro  church, 
while  William  Wells  Brown  carried  forward  his  work  in  general  Negro 
history.  In  this  decade,  too,  Bishop  Tanner  began  his  work  in  Negro 
theology. 

Most  of  the  Negro  talent  in  the  seventies  was  taken  up  in  pol- 
itics; the  older  men  like  Bishop  Wayman  wrote  of  their  experiences; 
William  Wells  Brown  wrote  the  Rising  Sun,  and  Sojourner  Truth 
added  her  story  to  the  slave  narratives.  A  new  poet  arose  in  the 
person  of  A.  A.  Whitman,  while  James  M.  Trotter  was  the  first  to 
take  literary  note  of  the  musical  ability  of  his  race.  Indeed  this 
section  might  have  been  begun  by  some  reference  to  the  music  and 
folklore  of  the  Negro  race;  the  music  contained  much  primitive  poetry 
and  the  folklore  was  one  of  the  great  contributions  to  American 
civilization. 

In  the  eighties  there  are  signs  of  unrest  and  different  conflicting 
streams  of  thought.  On  the  one  hand  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Negro 
church  is  shown  by  the  writers  on  church  subjects  like  Moore  and 
Wayman.  The  historical  spirit  was  especially  strong.  Still  wrote 
of  the  Underground  Railroad;  Simmons  issued  his  interesting  bio- 
graphical dictionary,  and  the  greatest  historian  of  the  race  appeared 
when  George  W.  Williams  issued  his  two-volume  history  of  the 


236  THE  ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 

Negro  Race  in  America.  The  political  turmoil  was  reflected  in  Lang- 
ston's  Freedom  and  Citizenship,  Fortune's  Black  and  White,  and 
Straker's  New  South,  and  found  its  bitterest  arraignment  in  Turner's 
pamphlets;  but  with  all  this  went  other  new  thought;  a  black  man 
published  his  First  Greek  Lessons,  Bishop  Payne  issued  his  Treatise  on 
Domestic  Education,  and  Stewart  studied  Liberia. 

In  the  nineties  came  histories,  essays,  novels  and  poems,  together 
with  biographies  and  social  studies.  The  history  was  represented 
by  Payne's  History  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  Hood's  History  of  the 
A.  M.  E.  Zion  Church,  Anderson's  sketch  of  Negro  Presbyterianism 
and  Hagood's  Colored  Man  in  the  M.  E.  Church;  general  history 
of  the  older  type  by  R.  L.  Perry's  Cushite  and  the  newer  type 
in  Johnson's  history,  while  one  of  the  secret  societies  found  their 
historian  in  Brooks;  Crogman's  essays  appeared  and  Archibald 
Grimke's  biographies.  The  race  question  was  discussed  in  Frank 
Grimke's  published  sermons,  while  social  studies  were  made  by  Penn, 
Wright,  Mossell,  Crummell,  Majors  and  others.  Most  notable,  how- 
ever, was  the  rise  of  the  Negro  novelist  and  poet  with  national  rec- 
ognition; Frances  Harper  was  still  writing  and  Griggs  began  his 
racial  novels,  but  both  of  these  spoke  primarily  to  the  Negro  race; 
on  the  other  hand,  Chestnut's  six  novels  and  Dunbar's  inimitable 
works  spoke  to  the  whole  nation. 

Since  1900  the  stream  of  Negro  writing  has  continued.  Dunbar 
has  found  a  worthy  successor  in  the  less-known  but  more  carefully 
cultured  Braithwaite;  Booker  T.  Washington  has  given  us  his  bio- 
graphy and  Story  of  the  Negro;  Kelly  Miller's  trenchant  essays  have 
appeared  in  book  form;  Sinclair's  Aftermath  of  Slavery  has  attracted 
attention,  as  have  the  studies  made  by  Atlanta  University.  The 
forward  movement  in  Negro  music  is  represented  by  J.  W.  and  F. 
J.  Work  in  one  direction  and  Rosamond  Johnson,  Harry  Burleigh 
and  Will  Marion  Cook  in  another. 

On  the  whole,  the  literary  output  of  the  American  Negro  has 
been  both  large  and  creditable,  although,  of  course,  comparatively 
little  known;  few  great  names  have  appeared  and  only  here  and  there 
work  that  could  be  called  first  class,  but  this  is  not  a  peculiarity  of 
Negro  literature. 

The  time  has  not  yet  come  for  the  great  development  of  Amer- 
ican Negro  literature.  The  economic  stress  is  too  great  and  the  racial 
persecution  too  bitter  to  allow  the  leisure  and  the  poise  for  which 


LITERATURE  AND  ART  237 

literature  calls.  On  the  other  hand,  never  in  the  world  has  a  richer 
mass  of  material  been  accumulated  by  a  people  than  that  which 
the  Negroes  possess  today  and  are  becoming  conscious  of.  Slowly 
but  surely  they  are  developing  artists  of  technic  who  will  be  able  to 
use  this  material.  The  nation  does  not  notice  this  for  everything 
touching  the  Negro  is  banned  by  magazines  and  publishers  unless  it 
takes  the  form  of  caricature  or  bitter  attack,  or  is  so  thoroughly  in- 
nocuous as  to  have  no  literary  flavor. 

Outside  of  literature  the  American  Negro  has  distinguished  him- 
self in  other  lines  of  art.  One  need  only  mention  Henry  0.  Tanner 
whose  pictures  hang  in  the  great  galleries  of  the  world,  including 
the  Luxembourg.  There  are  a  score  of  other  less  known  colored 
painters  of  ability  including  Bannister,  Harper,  Scott  and  Brown. 
To  these  may  be  added  the  actors  headed  by  Ira  Aldridge,  who  played 
in  Covent  Garden,  was  decorated  by  the  King  of  Prussia  and  the 
Emperor  of  Russia,  and  made  a  member  of  learned  societies. 

There  have  been  many  colored  composers  of  music.  Popular 
songs  like  Grandfather's  Clock,  Listen  to  the  Mocking  Bird,  Carry 
Me  Back  to  Old  Virginia,  etc.,  were  composed  by  colored  men.  There 
were  a  half  dozen  composers  of  ability  among  New  Orleans  freed- 
men  and  Harry  Burleigh,  Cook  and  Johnson  are  well  known  today. 
There  have  been  sculptors  like  Edmonia  Lewis,  and  singers  like  Flora 
Batson,  whose  color  alone  kept  her  from  the  grand  opera  stage. 

To  appraise  rightly  this  body  of  art  one  must  remember  that  it 
represents  the  work  of  those  artists  only  whom  accident  set  free;  if 
the  artist  had  a  white  face  his  Negro  blood  did  not  militate  against 
him  in  the  fight  for  recognition;  if  his  Negro  blood  was  visible  white 
relatives  may  have  helped  him;  in  a  few  cases  ability  was  united  to  in- 
domitable will.  But  the  shrinking,  modest,  black  artist  without 
special  encouragement  had  little  or  no  chance  in  a  world  determined 
to  make  him  a  menial.  So  this  sum  of  accomplishment  is  but  an 
imperfect  indication  of  what  the  Negro  race  is  capable  of  in  America 
and  in  the  world. 


INDEX 


Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 
of  Greensboro,  N.  C.,  the,  142. 

Agriculture,  negroes  in,  20,  54. 

Alabama,  movement  of  white  and  col- 
ored population  in,  5. 
—  State  Normal  School,  the,  212. 

American  Association  of  Educators  of 
Colored  Youth,  the,  132. 

—  Federation  of  Labor,  admission 
of  negroes  to,  114. 

—  Negro  Academy,  the,  134. 
Negro  Historical  Society,   the, 

134. 
Arkansas,  negro  children  in  schools  of, 

52;  negro  farmers  in,  55. 
Armstrong  Association,  work  of  the, 

90. 

BAKER,  RAY  STANNARD.  Problems  of 
Citizenship,  93-104. 

Ballot,  attitude  of  the  negro  toward, 
100. 

Baltimore,  negro  population  of,  24, 
81 ;  negro  schools  in,  222. 

Banks,  negro,  in  the  United  States, 
158. 

Baptist  church,  negro  followers  of,  61. 

Beaufort  county,  negro  population 
of,  59;  negro  school  attendance  in, 
61. 

BETTERMENT  OF  THE  NEGRO  IN  PHIL- 
ADELPHIA, THE  MOVEMENT  FOR  THE. 
John  T.  Emlen,  81-92. 

BROUQH,  CHARLES  HILLMAN.  Work 
of  the  Commission  of  Southern  Uni- 
versities on  the  Race  Question,  47- 
57. 

Budgets,  typical  negro,  151,  157,  162. 


CALDWELL,  B.  C.    The  Work  of  the 
Jeanes  and  Slater  Funds,  173-176. 


CHILDREN  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  OF 
PHILADELPHIA,  NEGRO.  Howard 
W.  Odum,  186-208. 

CHRISTENSEN,  NIELS.  Fifty  Years  of 
Freedom:  Conditions  in  the  Sea 
Coast  Regions,  58-66. 

Church,  activities  of  the,  for  negro  bet- 
terment, 71;  as  independent  negro 
institution,  120;  influence  of,  upon 
negroes,  50,  165;  negro  betterment, 
and  the,  86;  rise  and  importance  of 
negro,  14;  work  of  the  negro,  25. 

CHURCHES  AND  RELIGIOUS  CONDI- 
TIONS. J.  J.  Watson,  Jr.,  120-128. 

Churches,  in  Beaufort  County,  61. 

CITIES,  CONDITIONS  AMONG  NEGROES 
IN  THE.  George  Edmund  Haynes, 
105-119. 

CITIZENSHIP,  PROBLEMS  OF.  Ray 
Stannard  Baker,  93-104. 

Citizenship,  status  of  negro  in,  93. 

CLARKE,  JAMES  B.  The  Negro  and 
the  Immigrant  in  the  Two  Americas, 
32-37. 

Colored  Graduate  Nurses  National 
Association,  the,  135. 

Commission  on  Southern  Race  Ques- 
tions, membership  and  purpose  of, 
47. 

Convict  lease  system,  attitude  of 
National  Association  of  Colored 
Women  toward,  134;  introduction 
of,  in  the  South,  77. 

Cotton  crop,  in  Beaufort  district,  62. 

Country  Farm  Association,  the,  136. 

Courts,  justice  toward  negro  in  the, 
168. 

Crime,  negro,  prior  to  Civil  War,  74. 

Criminality,  decrease  in  negro,  75; 
factors  of  negro,  in  the  South,  79. 

CRIMINALITY  IN  THE  SOUTH,  NEGRO. 
Monroe  N.  Work,  74-80. 


239 


240 


INDEX 


DILLARD,    JAMBS    H.,    47,    170,    217. 
Doctor,  importance  of  colored,  141; 

professional  standing  of  the  negro, 

16. 

Domestic  service,  negroes  in,  20. 
DuBois,  W.  E.  BUROHARDT.      The 

Negro  in  Literature  and  Art,  233- 

237;  see  also  136. 

East  North  Central  States,  urban 
proportion  of  negroes  in,  8. 

Education,  amount  expended  on 
negro,  in  the  South,  52;  attitude  of 
both  races  toward  higher  negro,  217; 
changed  attitude  toward  negro,  226; 
factors  facilitating  negro,  209,  210; 
importance  of  negro,  186;  necessity 
of  negro,  166;  need  of  free,  101 ;  need 
of  higher,  18;  progress  of  negro,  117, 
222, 225;  Slater  fund  and  higher,  174; 
Southern  institutions  for  higher, 
211 ;  Southern  system  of  public,  215. 

EDWARDS,  THOMAS  J.  The  Tenant 
System  and  Some  Changes  Since 
Emancipation,  38-46. 

EMLEN,  JOHN  T.  The  Movement  for 
the  Betterment  of  the  Negro  in 
Philadelphia,  81-92. 

Enfranchisement,  attitude  of  South 
toward  negro,  55. 

Florida  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College,  the,  212. 

Four-day  plan  of  cropping,  failure  of, 
39. 

Freedman's  Bureau,  creation  of,  209. 

FREEDOM,  FIFTY  YEARS  OP.  CONDI- 
TIONS IN  THE  SEA  COAST  REGIONS. 
Niels  Christensen,  58-66. 

Georgia,  negro  criminals  in,  74. 
State  Industrial  College,  the,  212. 

HAMMOND,  L.  H.    The  White  Man's 

Debt  to  the  Negro,  67-73. 
Hampton  Normal  School,  the,  30, 176, 

215,  220. 


HAYNES,  GEORGE  EDMUND.  Condi- 
tions Among  Negroes  in  the  Cities, 
105-119. 

High  schools,  negroes  in,  191. 

HIGHER  EDUCATION  OP  NEGROES  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES.  Edward  T. 
Ware,  209-218. 

Hoffman,  Frederick  L.,  on  negro  death 
rate,  115. 

HOME  LIFE  AND  STANDARDS  OF  LIV- 
ING, NEGRO.  Robert  E.  Park,  147- 
163. 

Hookworm  disease  among  negroes, 
54,  143. 

Housing,  need  for  experiment  station 
in  negro,  73;  the  negro  problem 
and,  53. 

Housing  conditions,  effect  of,  on  ne- 
groes, 69;  need  for  improvement  of, 
72;  results  of  poor,  111;  tuberculosis 
and  poor,  143. 

Illiteracy,  among  negro  children,  183; 
among  slaves,  177;  decline  of  negro, 
22,  51,  183,  223;  distribution  of,  in 
urban  and  rural  population,  180; 
negro,  in  the  North,  179;  present 
problem  of  negro,  178 ;  relative  sta- 
tistics of,  179. 

ILLITERACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
NEGRO.  J.  P.  Lichtenberger,  177- 
185. 

Immigrant,  attitude  of,  toward  the 
negro,  35. 

IMMIGRANT,  THE  NEGRO  AND  THE,  IN 
THE  Two  AMERICAS.  James  B. 
Clarke,  32-37. 

INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  THE  PUB- 
LIC SCHOOLS.  Booker  T.  Washing- 
ton, 219-232. 

Industrial  education,  necessity  of 
negro,  55. 

Industrial  schools,  achievements  of, 
228,  232. 

Infant  mortality,  education  and,  143. 

Insurance  companies,  growth  of  negro 
beneficial,  137. 


INDEX 


241 


JBANES  AND  SLATER  FUNDS,  THE  WORK 
OK  THE.  B.  C.  Caldwell,  173-176. 

Jeanes  fund,  rural  schools,  and  the, 
225;  work  under  the,  173. 

JONES,  S.  B.  Fifty  Years  of  Negro 
Public  Health,  138-146. 

JONES,  THOMAS  JESSE.  Negro  Popu- 
lation in  the  United  States,  1-9. 

Kentucky,  decrease  of  negro  popula- 
tion in,  6. 

Labor  system,  change  in,  upon  plan- 
tations, 38. 

Labor  unions,  admission  of  negroes 
to,  36;  attitude  of,  toward  negroes, 
155. 

Land,  total  value  of  negro  farm,  in 
Virginia,  29. 

Land  owners,  negroes  as,  28,  58,  64, 
153,  167. 

Latin  America,  racial  attitude  in,  33. 

Lawyer,  future  possibilities  of  the 
negro,  17. 

LEE,  B.  F.  Negro  Organizations, 
129-137. 

Libraries,  establishment  of,  for  ne- 
groes, 225. 

LICHTENBERGER,  J.  P.  Negro  Illiter- 
acy in  the  United  States,  177-185. 

Literature,  achievements  of  negroes 
in,  234,  235. 

LITERATURE  AND  ART,  THE  NEGRO  IN. 
W.  E.  Burghardt  DuBois,  233-237. 

Louisville,  establishment  of  negro 
libraries  in,  225. 

Lynchings,  attitude  toward,  in  the 
South,  168;  number  of,  75. 

Maryland,  decrease  of  negro  popula- 
tion in,  6. 

Methodist  church,  negro  followers  of, 
61. 

Middle  Atlantic  States,  urban  pro- 
portion of  negroes  in,  8. 

MILLER,  KELLY.  Professional  and 
Skilled  Occupations,  10-18. 


Miners,  wages  of  negro,  157. 

Ministry,  character  of  negro,  51;  op- 
portunities for  negroes  in  the,  123. 

Mortality  rate,  among  negroes,  53, 
115. 

National  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  the  Negro,  the,  136. 

Association  of  Colored  Women, 

the,  133. 

Business  League,  the,  134. 

Federation  of  Colored  Men,  first 

meeting  of,  133. 

Negro  children,  at  work,  26;  average 
and  normal  age  of,  189;  comparison 
between,  and  white  children,  190; 
effect  of  environment  upon,  199, 
205;  intelligence  of,  202;  markings 
for,  192;  progress  of,  in  various 
subjects,  193;  retardation  among, 
190,  195;  school  attendance  of,  191. 

Negro  National  Educational  Con- 
gress, the,  136. 

Negro  problem,  study  of,  by  univer- 
sity students,  48,  70,  170. 

Negroes,  advancement  of,  11;  artistic 
tendencies  of,  233;  as  factor  of 
Southern  urban  population,  8;  as 
land  owners,  28;  as  wealth  pro- 
ducers, 168;  attitude  of  labor 
unions  toward,  155;  changes  in  un- 
skilled labor  among,  21;  classes  of, 
before  Civil  War,  147;  criminal  rec- 
ords of,  59;  decrease  in  illiteracy 
among,  22,  51;  development  of  race 
consciousness  among,  171;  dying 
out  of,  in  the  United  States,  138; 
economic  opportunities  for,  88;  edu- 
cational needs  of,  72;  forces  retard- 
ing economic  development  of,  55; 
growth  of  middle  class  among,  148; 
home  life  among,  163;  hospitality 
of,  160,  161;  improvement  in  living 
conditions  of,  152;  improvement  in 
personal  appearance  of,  65;  in  busi- 
ness, 159;  in  church  administration, 
124;  in  productive  pursuits,  13;  in 


242 


INDEX 


professional  service,  13;  in  skilled 
trades,  155;  influence  of  church 
upon,  164;  introduction  of,  10; 
literary  efforts  of,  234;  musical  ten- 
dencies of,  233;  need  for  vocational 
training  of,  89;  present  attitude 
toward,  11;  religious  temperament 
of,  120;  school  distribution  of,  in 
Philadelphia,  187;  segregation  of, 
12,  109;  situation  of,  at  close  of 
Civil  War,  219 ;  status  of,  as  citizens, 
93;  urban  and  rural  distribution  of, 
in  the  North,  8;  urban  migration  of, 
105;  wages  system  among,  22. 

New  England,  negroes  in  urban  com- 
munities of,  8. 

New  Orleans,  negro  population  of,  24, 
81. 

New  York,  negro  population  in,  24, 81 . 

North,  negro  illiteracy  in,  179;  negro 
population  in,  3,  106;  negro  un- 
skilled labor  in,  24;  urban  and  rural 
distribution  of  negroes  in,  8. 

Occupations,  field  of,  for  negroes,  113, 
147;  negroes  in  five  main  classes  of, 
20 ;  negroes  in  productive,  13 ;  whites 
and  negroes  in  gainful,  107. 

OCCUPATIONS,  PROFESSIONAL  AND 
SKILLED.  Kelly  Miller,  10-18. 

ODUM,  HOWARD  W.  Negro  Children 
in  the  Public  Schools  of  Philadel- 
phia, 186-208. 

Oliver,  Superintendent,  on  rural 
schools,  229. 

Organization,  efforts  toward,  among 
freedmen,  129. 

ORGANIZATIONS,  NEGRO.  B.  F.  Lee, 
129-137. 

Organizations,  negro,  following  Civil 
War,  131. 

PARK,  ROBERT  E.  Negro  Home  Life 
and  Standards  of  Living,  147-163. 

Part-standing-wage  system,  contract 
under,  39. 


Peabody,  George,  gift  of,  210. 

Philadelphia,  negro  population  in,  24, 
81;  negro  unskilled  labor  in,  25. 

PHILADELPHIA,  NEGRO  CHILDREN  IN 
THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  OP.  Howard 
W.  Odum,  186-208. 

PHILADELPHIA,  THE  MOVEMENT  FOR 
THE  BETTERMENT  OF  THE  NEGRO  IN. 
John  T.  Emlen,  81-92. 

Playgrounds,  available  to  negroes  in 
Philadelphia,  85. 

Population,  distribution  of  negro,  4; 
increase  of  negro,  1,  2;  negro,  in 
leading  cities,  9,  108;  negro,  in 
Southern  cities,  106;  proportion  of 
negro  to  total,  3;  segregation  of 
negro,  109;  state  distribution  of 
negro,  4,  6;  urban  and  rural  distri- 
bution of  negro,  180;  ward  distribu- 
tion of  negro,  in  Philadelphia,  82, 
83,  84. 

POPULATION,  NEGRO,  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  1-9. 

Press  convention,  first  meeting  of 
colored,  132. 

Prison  systems,  changes  in  Southern, 
77. 

Prisoners,  number  of  negro,  in  North 
and  South,  75. 

Professional  service,  negroes  in,  13. 

Public  health,  agencies  for  promoting, 
145. 

PUBLIC  HEALTH,  FIFTY  YEARS  OF 
NEGRO.  S.  B.  Jones,  138-146. 

RACE  QUESTION,  WORK  OF  THE  COM- 
MISSION OF  SOUTHERN  UNIVERSI- 
TIES ON  THE.  Charles  Hillman 
Brough,  47-57. 

Race  relationship,  during  reconstruc- 
tion, 165. 

RACE  RELATIONSHIP  IN  THE  SOUTH. 
W.  D.  Weatherford,  164-172. 

Railroad  construction,  negro  labor  in, 
36. 

Relief  agencies  open  to  negroes,  87. 

Renter,  present  negro,  44. 


INDEX 


243 


Rural  school,  as  factor  in  negro  edu- 
cation, 53 ;  Jeanes  fund  and  the,  173 ; 
Superintendent  Oliver  on  the,  229. 

Sanford,  William  H.,  on  negro  jus- 
tice, 79. 

School  system,  institution  of  public, 
220. 

Schools,  amount  expended  on  negro, 
167,  224;  as  factor  in  uplift  of  ne- 
groes, 27 ;  interest  in  progress  of,  229 ; 
negro  children  in  Philadelphia,  187; 
negro,  in  Arkansas,  52;  success  of, 
in  negro  teaching,  197;  total  expen- 
ditures for  negro,  225,  226. 

Sea  islands,  negro  life  on,  149. 

Share-cropping  system,  the,  38,  40. 

Skilled  trades,  negroes  in,  155 

Slater  fund,  higher  education  and  the, 
174,  210;  work  under  the,  174. 

Slaves,  as  unskilled  laborers,  19; 
health  of,  139. 

Social  evil  among  negroes,  144. 

Social  service  among  negroes,  169. 

South,  attitude  of  races  in,  164;  atti- 
tude of,  toward  negro  enfranchise- 
ment, 55;  changes  in  prison  systems 
of,  77 ;  industrial  standing  of  negroes 
in,  35;  money  expended  on  negro 
education  in,  52;  movement  of  ne- 
groes to  cities  of,  7;  need  of  trained 
teachers  in,  176;  negro  as  factor  in 
agricultural  development  of,  54; 
negro  farms  in,  68;  negro  illiteracy 
in  the,  179;  negro  population  in  the, 
3;  negro  unskilled  labor  in,  23;  posi- 
tion of  the  negro  in  agriculture  of, 
36. 

SOUTH,  NEGRO  CRIMINALITY  IN  THE 
Monroe  N.  Work,  74-80. 

SOUTH,  RACE  RELATIONSHIP  IN  THE. 
W.  D.  Weatherford,  164-172. 

South  Carolina,  negro  public  schools 
in,  221. 

Southern  Sociological  Congress,  work 
of  the,  169. 


STANDARDS  OF  LIVING,  NEGRO  HOME 
LIFE  AND.  Robert  E.  Park,  147- 
163. 

Suffrage,  attitude  toward  negro,  97; 
educational  and  property  qualifica- 
tions for,  98;  restricted,  in  United 
States,  95. 

Taxes  paid  by  negroes  in  Virginia,  30. 
Teachers,  functions  of  negro,  15. 
Tenant  system  and  development  of 

negro,  55. 
TENANT  SYSTEM  AND  SOME  CHANGES 

SINCE  EMANCIPATION,  THE.    Thos. 

J.  Edwards,  38-46. 

Tennessee,  decrease  of  negro  popula- 
tion in,  6. 
Thomas,  Judge  W.  H.,  on  negro  trials, 

78. 

Tuberculosis,  among  negroes,  53,  139. 
Tuskegee    Conference,    first    annual 

meeting  of,  133. 
Tuskegee  Institute,  the,  176,  215,  221, 

228. 

United  States,  negro  farmers  in,  55. 
Unskilled  labor,  changes,  in,  among 

negroes,  21. 
UNSKILLED  LABOR,  THE  NEGRO  IN. 

R.  R.  Wright,  Jr.,  19-27. 

Virginia,  decrease  of  negro  population 
in,  5;  negro  farmers  in,  149. 

VIRGINIA,  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  TIDE- 
WATER COUNTIES  OF.  T.  C.  Walker, 
28-31. 

Vocational  training,  need  for  negro, 
89. 

Wages  system  among  negroes,  22. 

WALKER,  T.  C.  Development  in  the 
Tidewater  Counties  of  Virginia, 
28-31. 

WARE,  EDWARD  T.  Higher  Educa- 
tion of  Negroes  in  the  United  States, 
209-218. 


244 


INDEX 


WASHINGTON,  BOOKER  T.  Indus- 
trial Education  and  the  Public 
Schools,  219-232;  see  also  132,  133, 
134,  166,  234,  236. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  negro  population 
of,  24,  81. 

WATSON,  J.  J.,  Jr.  Churches  and  Re- 
ligious Conditions,  120-128. 

WEATHEKFORD,  W.  D.  Race  Rela- 
tionship in  the  South,  163-172;  see 
also  216. 

WHITE  MAN'S  DEBT  TO  THE  NEGRO, 
THE.  L.  H.  Hammond,  67-73. 


Wilberforce  University,  college  de- 
partment in,  209. 

Women,  as  negro  unskilled  workers, 
25. 

WORK,  MONROE  N.  Negro  Crimi- 
nality in  the  South,  74-80. 

WRIGHT,  R.  R.,  Jr.  The  Negro  in 
Unskilled  Labor,  19-27. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
first  colored,  131 ;  work  of,  for  negro 
betterment,  170. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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